Just as the American Civil War didn’t really start in 1861, it didn’t really end in 1865. If you look at the political divisions in the U.S. today — and the ongoing issues swirling around race, the symbolism of the Confederate flag, and the position of Americans of African descent in the country — you could say the aftershocks haven’t faded yet.
The period 1865 to 1877 known as Reconstruction was one of the most crucial periods in American history, yet it’s a bit of a blank space even for historically aware folks. Reconstruction was a major factor in the manner in which the development of the western frontier played out in the post-war era.
In a very real sense, it was Reconstruction that made the West wild. Many of the feuds that erupted into violence in Texas and Arizona, for instance, had roots in the Civil War. The “Cowboy” faction in the Tombstone affair had Confederate roots, while the Earp faction were all Unionists. The James-Younger Gang was made up of ex-Confederate Missouri guerrillas, and they were explicitly carrying on the war in their depredations. Sure, it was an excuse — but it was an excuse that resonated with the bandits themselves, and with the public. John Wesley Hardin thought of himself as a Southern Patriot warrior — too young to fight in the War, but hell bent on making up for it. And on and on…
General history has glossed over deep post-Civil War conflict — which included political and racial terrorism — creating the impression that the soldiers shook hands and went home after the bloodiest war in the nation’s history and got down to the business of developing the modern United States. That ain’t so — not at all. Reconstruction really was a second Civil War, and one that the South pretty much won. A brief attempt at racial equality was quickly and rather brutally suppressed, with the acquiescence of a restored Union that didn’t really have its heart in the project, and white supremacy prevailed in the region for another century and more.
The emotional chords that the Civil War and Reconstruction hit in the American psyche continue to reverberate. For some, waving the Confederate flag is as abhorrent as flying a National Socialist swastika, while to others it is a symbol of independent, rural culture and attitude that carries no negative connotations at all. On some fundamental levels, we are not reconciled, and we are not reconstructed — to this very day.
PBS’ American Experience docudrama “Reconstruction: The Second Civil War,” is a fine way to learn a lot about this wild and most important epoch. The audio isn’t quite synched up, but that is only noticeable with the talking heads — and they don’t have much screen time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOJch5C8aEg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KNhf3ZkSuU
The History Channel’s “Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War” is also worth viewing. Of particular interest is the anti-Confederate partisan operations of Lumbee Indians in North Carolina in what is known as the Lowry War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY4-qO0TwHM
Bill Valenti says
No man born white can know the truth
Of walking in a black man’s skin
Slavery’s wounds have never healed
So where do we begin?
Craig Rullman says
Excellent piece, Jim. The legacy of slavery, no matter who was practicing it, has not, and will not, fade away. The fact that it still exists at all is an indictment of the species. But the legacy of the practice is as true of East Africa, and elsewhere, as it is of the American experience. For practicality, and the ease of study, we tend to lump wars into tidy time periods, as if we could possibly explain them inside that bracket. Can’t happen. Cause and effect start long before, and linger well after. The tragedies in Darfur, for example, have roots in the ancient slave trade in Zanzibar, and elsewhere. It is the human condition. The question, “Where do we begin?” is most likely a non-sequitur. “It’s turtles all the way down,” as the saying goes, and we aren’t likely to do much better than treating our neighbors as we ourselves would like to be treated. That’s the choice I’m making anyway, as my influence to assuage angst on all sides of the issue is limited. But here’s what I won’t do…I won’t apologize for being me, or for things I had nothing to do with. That is a reduction in honor, and blasphemes the sacrifices my own people–who toiled entirely without privilege– made to give me something. Which brings me around to my original point: I begin at home, which means my heart and my mind. That’s the best I can do, and I suspect it is the best any of us can hope to achieve.
JimC says
That nails it. It all begins at home. And nobody should be expected to abase themselves in the vain notion that it elevates someone else.
There’s so much to hash over, and the ground is dangerous and strewn with landmines sown by the arbiters of outrage. I’ve been told to my face that I can’t even talk about race because I am a white male and don’t recognize my own privilege. Setting aside the presumptuousness of that “argument”(like you, my immediate ancestors how busted their asses to provide me with a good start would be hard pressed to define their circumstances as “privilege”) it’s a hell of a way to preclude dialogue. I’m willing to stipulate that I cannot know the truth of walking in a black man’s skin — but if I’m not even allowed into the conversation, how am I supposed to get an inkling?
(I know that’s not what you were implying, Bill Valenti).
No government program can reach across the racial chasm that is so persistent in our culture. Only people can do that. One at a time. It may be rich in irony, but I find a fine expression of this principle in the speech of Ten Bears from “The Outlaw Josey Wales”: It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life… or death. It shall be life.
Lane Batot says
….and this is the kind of stuff Forrest Carter’s books are chockerblock FULL of! Yet his books get banned because he apparently had some early racist issues himself. I think he MORE than balanced that out with his 4 books in later life–the 2 Josey Wales novels, the BEST(if not completely historically accurate) novel about Geronimo and the Apaches “Watch For Me On The Mountain”, and his superb cult-popular “The Education Of Little Tree”!!!! You read yer copy of “Little Tree” yet, J. C.?
JimC says
Have not — yet.
The pathos of Forrest Carter. An obviously tormented man with some venomous snakes in his head. Yet he did write those fine and heart-stirring books. The art outlives the artist and no matter how troubled he was in life, his work definitely more than atones for his shortcomings as a human being. We should all be so fortunate.
Lane Batot says
Yer in for a treat when you git around to “Little Tree”. To connect it specifically to this post, there is a chapter in it about the character Little Tree’s grandfather involving just such a post civil war incident–the ANTITHESIS of prejudice….And DO check out the trailer for “The Free State Of Jones”–a definite MUST on my future calendar! Yet another obviously little known incident I’ll be glad to learn more about!…..And to contradict my RANT earlier(on the Grizzly Apocalypse post)–I saw ANOTHER trailer for the new upcoming “Jungle Book”–with WOLVES!!! Dang nice lookin’ ones, too, even if they are computer generated! No leg-hiking will be necessary!
Saddle Tramp says
Jim…
Just recieved my first email notification.
Great feature.
Now I will never miss a new post.
To Bill V. the above concerned commenter.
As Hemingway would say and I paraphrase ” You start from where you are at and with what you have”.
Where are we? In my opinion at another serious crossroads. Ludicrous in so many apparent ways to most sensible human beings, still we have human nature at play ( and at it’s worst ) as always. What have we got? Ignorance tangled up in it’s own malicious purposes. The way out? As to what this post testifies to it is an slow and arduous journey. I will halt short before platitudes run amok. Many much more eloquent than I can fill in the rest…
JimC says
Well, you’re plenty eloquent enough. I think Craig pretty much nails it in his comment. For most of us, the best we can do is treat others the way we wish to be treated. And that’s not nothing.
Fletcher A. Vredenburgh says
Good and interesting piece. We we just in St. Augustine on MLK Day, listening to a public presentation and later discussing the history and failure of Reconstruction and the birth of the Civil Rights movement.
As a bit of a paleo-conservative these days, I’m ashamed of the lack of empathy and historical knowledge on the part of so many on the right. Support for individual rights and Constitutionalism should translate into a strong support for civil rights.
On the other hand, I see a lot of people who could at least have some empathy being constantly lectured on their “privilege,” even though that privilege is pretty non-existent.
We’re in a terrible situation right now, and I don’t see it improving any time soon. Unless, for want of a better phrase, both sides learn how to talk and listen to each other, things are only going to worsen.
To quote a political philosopher I rarely agree with:
“We can start by not lying so much
And treating other people like dirt”
Jello Biafra
JimC says
Thanks for weighing in Fletcher. And with a Jello Biafra quote, too!
You’re right — any conservative who is true to his principles must apply them regardless of race. And browbeating people about their alleged privilege is just alienating. Most of all, you’re right that things will only get worse if we don’t start talking and listening to each other.
Lane Batot says
Although I knew something of the Henry Berry Lowry period, I was appalled HOW LITTLE I knew! THANKS for that link! I have IMMEDIATELY set about rectifying my ignorance about a fascinating part of history from my own state! I never knew he was compared to Robin Hood or Rob Roy! Talk about prophetic–I am right in the middle of reading Sir Walter Scott’s novel “Rob Roy” right now! I have(count ’em!) FOUR books on the way regarding that period and the Lumbees. I’ll havta let you know about any pertikuler good ones……Kinda made me think of that new Matthew McCaughnehey movie coming out, that I saw advertised in the thee-ater when I went to see “The Revenant”–titled something like “The Free State Of Jones”. Yeah, I most definitely wanta see THAT one, too! Which leads me to comment further on this subject….to be continued…..
JimC says
Synchronicity is a beautiful thing. I figured Lowry would trip your trigger.
Lane Batot says
….don’t groan so loudly, people; I’ll TRY and be brief here…..Being a Southerner who has lived in Africa, I kinda have a somewhat broader perspective on these issues. Boy howdy, do I TIRE of being lumped into the Yankee stereo-typed category of dumb-arse prejudiced hick descended from slave holders! The truth is, only a small proportion of whites could even afford to have slaves in the South in those days, and I am descended from white sharecroppers(crossed with Cherokee) on mah Ma’s side, and Texas settlers from Germany/France on my Paw’s–all far too poor to have slaves. Living in the Southern Appalachians, I learned how a majority of the poor hill folk were Pro Unionist from the outset of the Civil War(look up the “Laurel Valley Massacre” which occurred just up the road from where I lived on the Tenessee/N.C. border)–they were totally against slavery, and had NO LOVE for the wealthy land owners/controllers in the more developed valleys. Hence the conflict there was especially savage and bitter. MANY Southerners were against slavery, and joined Union troops, but are forgotten in incorrect but popular modern stereo-types……To Be Cont.
Lane Batot says
….OOOPS–I meant the “Shelton Laurel Massacre”(on the N. C. Tenn. border) above–I got mixed up as I also actually worked, for a time, in the Laurel Valley in Tennessee, now a big RESORT vacation area! Although in it’s day, there was a LOT of moonshining that went on there! There are probably many “laurel valleys”, actually, but should only be one “SHELTON laurel”……
Lane Batot says
……But if you speak with a Southern drawl, as I do,(or purposefully spell things that way, as I also like too!) you are automatically lumped into the negative prejudiced Southern White stereo-type! Little wonder, however, people in this(and other countries watching our films/TV!) have been brainwashed all their lives to believe these sweeping stereo-types, as almost every hated villain or retarded bumpkin portrayed in film will have some sort of Southern accent! Ironically, the most racially and religiously prejudiced people I have ever encountered have been people from large Northern cities! Usually where there is a high crime rate. They never seem to understand that the negative things they have experienced are products of THE FOUL ENVIRONMENT they live in, NOT a matter of color or religion! Some funny discussions I’ve had over the years–the Southerner trying to get the Northerners to have a more accepting, open mind! The ABSOLUTE WORST EVILLY prejudiced person I ever met was someone formerly in law enforcement from Los Angeles! He was a dang frikkin’ NAZI!……to be cont.
Lane Batot says
….and then there is my African experience. I saw far more hateful, brutal prejudiced between different tribal factions of black Africans than I’ve ever witnessed between whites and blacks in this country! People forget the slave trade utilizing black Africans was totally dependent on other black Africans catching and selling their tribal enemies to the European slave traders. But nobody ever seems to remember that in the U. S. A. Not to mention numerous white folks are also descended from slaves, if you look back far enough! So, sorry, but whining about that stuff NOW, when it does not exist in the U. S. A. anymore, after so many fought and died to eradicate it, and so many on all sides are striving towards higher ideals, it is counterproductive, in my opinion, to be pointing fingers(inaccurately, in many cases!) about things that happened to long dead people a century ago! I am proud to be descended from a poor white sharecropper Scotch-Irish hillbilly grandfather in North Georgia, that got into a heated discussion at his country church, that wanted to exclude some local black folks from attending. He told the prejudiced congregation members that those black folks souls were as “white” as theirs was, but he did not prevail. Hence he stopped forever going to church. For the rest of his life! As he told me on an outing with him and his hunting dogs once, “the woods were the only true church there was, anyway”!
JimC says
The woods, deserts and mountains are my cathedral.
Lane Batot says
….I forgot to mention my grandfather made that stand against his church’s exclusion back in the 1930’s Depression era, before any such “civil rights” were the politically correct thing to do–in fact, he was likely vilified for it. People do forget that may, many Southerners DID NOT agree with the biased, status quo of dominant white society of the times. How else could the lower half of the “Underground Railroad” have operated?
Dennis Heckt says
Who is the man on the cover?
JimC says
As far as i know, unidentified Confederate. Anyone?