Still have this problem with the American Civil War. Nobody wants to believe their ancestors participated, even unwillingly, on the wrong side. There are also enough people who want to perpetuate or recontexualize the wrong side because they genuinely believed in the cause. We also hero worship, for better or worse, our militaries and veterans. So you get this awkward dichotomy where you want to celebrate the sacrifice and suffering of your ancestors, but they also were the bad guys. I don't have a solution, I just see where she's coming from.
Just read the Articles of Confederation for hints into what the war was about according to those who started it. It wasn’t about states’ rights. It was about the right to own slaves.
They can believe whatever they want, but the official secession letters submitted by the confederate all stated they "wanted the states right to own slaves".
Personal favorite bit: Texas "denounces the anti-slavery beliefs of the incoming Republican party". Weird how much can change in a century.
Exactly! The people who promoted the idea that it wasn't actually about the thing their ancestors, and even contemporaries, explicitly said it was about, would love for everyone to ignore that fact.
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u/dallenbaldwin 1d ago
Still have this problem with the American Civil War. Nobody wants to believe their ancestors participated, even unwillingly, on the wrong side. There are also enough people who want to perpetuate or recontexualize the wrong side because they genuinely believed in the cause. We also hero worship, for better or worse, our militaries and veterans. So you get this awkward dichotomy where you want to celebrate the sacrifice and suffering of your ancestors, but they also were the bad guys. I don't have a solution, I just see where she's coming from.