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Over the past semester, I took a class in Civil War history, which taught me a lot about the war itself and the ideas surrounding the war. It has made me reflect a lot about our education system and why it has failed us when talking about this topic. Specifically,
Over the past semester, I took a class in Civil War history, which taught me a lot about the war itself and the ideas surrounding the war. It has made me reflect a lot about our education system and why it has failed us when talking about this topic. Specifically,
It has failed us by furthering what is called the "Lost Cause" ideology. The Lost Cause has four key tenants, and I will break each of them down as I continue on. The first one is that slavery was not the cause of the Civil War, and that it was caused because of state's rights.
This is not true. Slavery was by far and away the main reason the Civil War occurred. Politicians on both sides said so, soldiers believed it, and white Southerners not fighting in the war hoped for a victory so that they can keep their "peculiar institution."
In middle school, I was taught that the war was fought over state's rights. In Maryland it kind of makes sense, as they were a pro-slavery border state. But when schools in Pennsylvania also teach that, it becomes even more of an issue. They are spreading misinformation that
Will become foundational to the arguments people have. The education system also spread the other aspects of the Lost Cause, such as slaves being happy in their conditions, Confederate generals being the best throughout the war, and that they were the victims of Reconstruction
The common thought that the death of Stonewall Jackson and the Battle of Gettysburg also fall into the Lost Cause myth. I admit, I believed the Stonewall Jackson one before this class. And while his importance is still high, his survival in 1862 would not change the outcome
Of the war. As for Gettysburg, this relates to the Lost Cause because some people say that they were destined to lose that battle (or any "turning point" battle) eventually. Education has hyped up that battle as the turning point of the war, when it really wasn't.
That's not to say that Gettysburg wasn't important. It was a huge political turning point, because without that victory and Ulysses S. Grant's victory at Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln could have lost the election in 1864 and history would have turned out a lot different.
Learning all of these facts makes me realize that there is a lot of misinformation that states will want me to teach. It is hard to reconcile that, because I want to give my students the best education and the right education, but I also want to keep my job. So where do I go?
There may not be a good answer, yet. But this class has taught me a lot about what to look for, and to be able to argue against the myths that have taken root in our society. So thank you, @rachelshelden for giving me an extra resource to help my future students. They thank you 2
