Confederatesin the Attic - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... The American civil war happened over one hundred and sixty years ago, and is considered the deadliest war in American history. It pitied the southern states, where slavery was legal and northern states,who wanted to abolish slavery. It should be noted that the the southern side wanted to secede from the union. The southern states depended on black slaves to work on their large plantations, while the economy of the north depended on industries, at that time in history. In his travels through the south the memories of the lost cause are remembered and acted. Using humor and wit, the writer looks at the divines in America, several years after the end of the civil war, be it race, gender and class among others. The writer finds a problem with the way that the war means to the black and white people. This is clearly shown in the writers travels, where he encounters the case of two young men on the issue of what the flying the confederate flag means. In this case a black guy shoots another young man, because he is driving around town with the confederate flag. To the white people the flag is a symbol of pride, black people view it as a form of division along the racial line in America. The question here is whether some people use the flag as a way of showing one race being superior to the others or not. There is no denying that race remains a major issue in America today, not only in the south. The family of the white man who was shot is given money and honored as the last martyr of the confederate, shows how much the ongoing racial strife is , using imagery. The issue of race also comes into play, on whether we should look at the war from a defending the rights of the southern state or the rights of slave who worked in horrific conditions and led terrible lives. The question here is whether to take pride in the efforts of ancestors who wanted to fight in order to continue with slavery. The reason why black people view the war as meaningless is because millions of black people would continue to live in servitude. On the other hand, white people see the victory of the North to have taken their right to having slaves work in their plantation. This obsession with reenacting, to be a way of escaping the past. The re-enactors in this book go through a lot in order to relieve the path of their ancestors who fought the great civil war. The south has very different lifestyles and heritages from the rest of the country. This explains the stereotypes towards the south. This region of the United States may be viewed by some as an area where people romanticize historical events and refuse to move on . An example of an old southern tradition is that of southern belles. This term refers to women from the south upper class, who possess certain lady-like characteristics and natural charm, though most people do not believe they still exist. In his book, Tony Horwitz travels through small museums, where he reportedly finds the minnie ball that transferred semen from a rebel soldier to the womb of a southern belle. Elsewhere, the writer befriends re-enactors, who literally live and breath the civil war in every possible sense. The main re-enactors that the author ended up being close to, and appears on the cover of the book, is called Robert Lee Hodge. They take the practice so seriously, so that just like actors they relieve every moment, just like it could have happened centuries ago. Some of the ...Download file to see next pagesRead More