Ghosts of the Confederacy - Book Report/Review Example

Analysis of Ghosts of Confederacy The book is about the adjustment of White Southerners to their defeat in civil war and investigates the cultural implications of an important event in American history. Gaines M. Foster (1998) opines that in opposition to the southern folklore, southerners really accepted their loss and rapidly clinched the reunion as well as a new south. This resulted sectional reconciliation and an emerging social order. However, the public celebration of the war resulted in different and conservative society in South despite the ghosts of the Confederacy still haunted the New South. However, according to Foster they did little to shape the behavior and ultimately trivialized its memory and reduced its cultural power. Hence, they have failed in receiving a special wisdom from defeat. Surrender of Army of North Virginia The chapter 1 of the book starts with surrender of Lee’s North Virginia’s Army to General Grant in Appomattox. The surrender comes after a last ditch effort of Lee’s army to beat General Grant and a failure in it. However, even after surrender of Johnston’s surrender President Jefferson Davis is confident of victory by Guerilla tactics and this reveals the stronger intentions of southerners about their culture as even the failure in war did not convince them for a change of policy regarding slavery. One can observe in this condition that both soldiers and generals are against the war and even common Virginian is not in favor of war and as a result the defeat of South has become imminent. Moreover, the common people in South wanted orderly system and in place for the sake of their peaceful life. The above observation reveals the intentions of common people, who have different views from leaders wanted to stop fighting a losing war. Another aspect that played an important role in shaping the perceptions of defeat in southern people are the central institutions of lost cause and known as post war confederate organizations. They are; The Southern Historical Society, the United Confederate Veterans, The United Daughters of the Confederacy and others. As these groups conducted ceremonial activities or rituals to understand the past, they helped even in understanding the defeat as that resulted in a new order in society and southerners tried to adjust with the new social order. Moreover, Foster opines that no interpretation of the war dominated the entire south and as a result, only a minority of white southerners did not adjust to defeat but the opinion of the majority matters here and that resulted in rebuilding the society after the war. Southerners Immediate Response after War However, despite the defeat the southerners tried to champion states’ rights and white supremacy thus abandoning the vision of independent slaveholders’ republic and did not dwell on it for long. Hence, it can be termed that the intrinsic feelings of the southerners did not change as they tried to adjust with the new order. The adjustment has the intrinsic feelings of white supremacy and insistence on North to acknowledge their honor and heroism of their cause. However, one can find their resolve to accept defeat in the memory of the confederacy despite the beginning of revitalization of confederation movement. Though, the revitalization movement are the proponents of lost cause, it did not gain momentum as the leaders of this movement came from prewar southern elite and are not energetic or broadminded enough to influence commoners who are necessary to continue fight on the north. It might be one of the reason for their inability in creating a successful movement. The lack institutional base reveals that the leaders are not familiar with the problems of common people and as a result, they failed to gain enough institutional base for the movement. The argument of Foster that new men from cities and towns dominated New South in place of old planter elite seems to be reasonable as the culture of the post war era in South is different from that of the culture that is present before the war. Regaining the Glory The much needed vindication for the people of South that makes it to forget the defeat in the war came after Spanish-American War and North acknowledged their heroism and honor. However, by 1900, the generation of war veterans passed away and the next generation did maintain the confederate tradition due to the recognition form them in the American Society and the fears of drastic social change are eliminated. Hence, the intentions of South that declined to continue the confederation tradition as the social change is not affecting them negatively and they received the much needed acknowledgement from North. The above two aspects might have made them emotionally content and that resulted in future unity with North. Hence one can understand that the emotional fillip the next generation of war veterans got resulted in celebration of war that is derived from something other than defeat. There might be other reasons inherent such as ‘myth’ and ‘civil religion’ that served the Lost Cause for its permanent basis and social identity do not have clear cut definition, that resulted in declining of Lost Cause by next generation southerners. Though one views the Southern Society from the civil religion concept, which is different from the one present in the pre war period as the post war society is dominated by men from cities and towns in contrast to the planter elite in the pre war period. As there is difference in the civil society itself, one can understand that the norms of civil religion after the war are different that of the ones before the war and resulted in unification in the time being. Accepting Defeat Accepting defeat by southerners has been not a small thing and it took enough time as women refused to walk under American flag and even crossed street to avoid encounter with northern man. The above fact expressed by Foster talks about the indifference of the southerners to northerners and their non-compromising nature even after the clear defeat for their cause. The confederate buttons left on the coats of southerners even after defeat talks about the fact that they are not accepting the defeat and did not realize that their cause is not valid. However, the hatred for northerners might have made them so rebellious and un-adjustable. However, the acceptance of a new order in society made the next generation to accept the defeat and come to lines along with new order in the society. Hence, one can feel that the fruits of the change of society and inevitability to accept the change to enjoy them made the next generation of war veterans to mingle with northerners. As it is clear from the writings of Foster that the first confederates flee from south to Mexico or Cuba and the people are coming to the terms with the change have remained to adjust and welcome the new order in the society. So, it can be termed that the fleeing of first confederates who are hardliners for their cause and are not able to accept defeat have to other countries resulted in an atmosphere that changed the next generation to adjust with the cause of north. Even the experiences of the people who flee to countries like Brazil did result in accepting the defeat and coming to the terms of the new order in society as they found that the society, which they have opposed (free blacks) existed in Brazil. In other words they have to accept the defeat even in other country like Brazil and this made to come to terms with the native country and made them unable to influence the southerners to not accept the defeat. Harsh Realities of Migration Consequently, there is no motivation or inspiration for the remaining southerners about not accepting the north and this resulted in mixing of southerners with north in the time being. However, the above-mentioned acceptance did not come without the trauma of southerners as they did not participate in voting happened in early days after the defeat in the war. Though they are not interested in politics the economic and family needs of the families forced them to mingle in the society and come to terms with the change in the circumstances. Joining of them in the Republican Party formed an clear form of submission as they supported the reconstruction acts in March 1867 and southerners thought that joining the party is the wisest strategy in accepting the defeat. Hence, though the membership of southerners in Republican Party did not bring any radical change, it formed a ground for southerners to accept a change as well as to demand a reconstruction. Simultaneously, the inability of southerners to display weakness due to defeat or confusion led to the preliminary acceptance and might have resulted in a state of forced acceptance of the new order in the society in the early days after the defeat. However, the religious attitudes of southerners helped them to condemn the sinfulness of the confederate cause and that resulted in the next generation in coming with the terms of Union government. Another aspect that made the confederates to lose confidence in southerners is that their chieftain tried to escape from northerners in lady disguise and that might have made the southerners feel embarrassed with their leaders. The above aspect mixed with the urban youth and female thinking about the society made them to come to terms with northerners and to accept the changes in the society after the war as they are not against the liberty of the people. One of the most important aspect is that the book ‘Ghosts of the Confederacy explains that the people’s need for civil war for the people has been disappeared as the logic behind is that the society after the war is acceptable to southerners except for the defeat of them in the war. As the northerners did not humiliated the people but only tried to capture the leaders or the militants, the wounds of common people were slowly healed and that resulted in acceptance of Union government by southerners. One more significant aspect that made southerners to accept the changes in society after the war is that the women did sustain their men’s consequences of defeat and that resulted in a situation of preserving their self respect at home and the males did not become base serfs due to the defeat in the war. Hence, the thinking of youth and women made the adult men to be away from the preparations of war after the defeat and that resulted in a successful combination of north and south in the form of Union government after the war with a new order of social change. However, Foster claims that the change did not come without the social tensions as many southerners who came to terms with defeat in the eighties cast their lot with a society that is troubled by unusual tension. The threat to the traditional patterns of life and as a result created a temporary social order during the transition by vocal racial liberal disgruntled farmers, rebellious workers attacked social order and that might have resulted in strained social relations between southerners. However, the majority of the people might have supported the modern market system instead of prewar traditional slave economy. The above argument emphasizes the next generation southerners’ interest in market economy instead of traditional slave economy as the enterprise will make a difference in modern market economy. Any society that keeps itself away from the dramatic changes in the market cannot develop in an industrialized environment. Hence, the dramatic changes due to mining and industrialization might have forced southerners to be a part of the new order society thus forgetting the defeat and the lost cause of benefits of slavery. The Role of Industrialization in Emergence of South The establishment of companies with number of employees might have attracted the entrepreneurs in southerners and they might have preferred the business instead of traditional farming with slaves. Hence, the salary system that has been consolidated and fortified in industrial modern market economy might have entered the farms also and the resultant new system is capable of making the people to develop in new social order. Even in the development of new social order and economy, the celebrations of confederacy have happened in Washington and Lexington. Even in those celebrations, the speakers concentrated on reconciliation and reunion that has motivated next generation of southerners to come with the terms of defeat as well as the new order of society and economy. If they did not come to the terms with the new order of economy they might lose another war in the terms of economics with the northerners as they develop with the new industrial policies of the government. Hence, the above aspect might have made the southerners to recognize the development of economy and their economic status in the new social order and that is capable of making them to forget the lost cause and the wounds of defeat of the war. Moreover, the commandment of lost southern generals in war like Lee also provided much needed emotional fillip that is required to heal the wounds of defeat. The above aspect can be termed as an important one as southern generals have got recognition for their military skills as well as heroic activities. The above mentioned aspect had resulted in writings like ‘The Sword of Robert E. Lee’ by Father Ryan and those provided a literature that satisfies the emotions of a society as well as a nation. The above aspects resulted in ritual activities and have provided the revised historical interpretation of confederate celebration that is necessary to unite with the northerners. The ritual activities provided ground for Memorial Day ceremonies, monument unveilings and resulted in veteran reunions and historical interpretation of war. As the activities are capable of building confidence in southerners even after the loss in war and resulted in declining the confederate tradition and paved the way for reunion. However, Foster mentions the vindication of the south that followed the Spanish American War made the southerners to have a proof of their valor and thus made them to forget the scars of the lost war. As a result along with the development of modern market economy and industrialization, the outcome of Spanish-American war and the participation of southerners in it resulted in much needed emotional breakthrough necessary for reunion. The professionalization of history has resulted in courses of civil war and reconstruction and some other aspects. As the civil war and reconstruction have given equal importance, the role of southerners in reconstruction mentioned in the history resulted in significance of them in the history thus paving the way for the weakening of the confederate cause as the southerners are participating in nation building under union government. The recognition for their efforts is capable of making them to forget the wounds of the defeat of the war and that resulted in mixing of them in the new order social structure. Prior to the above aspect, the social tensions that helped to shape the confederate tradition have diminished due to the lack of leadership from the war veterans. That aspect mixed with the inclusion of the southerners in the history resulted in them coming with the terms of defeat as well as the healing of the wounds of the results of the civil war. References: Gaines M. Foster, Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause, and the Emergence of the New South, 1865 to 1913, US: Oxford University Press, 1988 Read More