Behind The Lens
The Confederation, Slavery and the American Civil War by Zeyd Anwar
As the American Civil War drew to a conclusion in May 1865, Southerners were aware of the humiliation they had suffered, alongside the death and destruction the War had inflicted on their towns, families and homes. Emerging first in the mood of traumatised defeat, southerners soon embraced the Lost Cause ideology, a narrative that aimed to rewrite the events of the Civil War and change how history is remembered. “The Legend of the Lost Cause began as mostly a literary expression of the despair of a bitter, defeated people over a lost identity,” wrote Rollin G Osterweis. Southerners looked to portray the Confederate cause in a positive light, reformulating the arguments over slavery, reconstruction, the American constitution and self-identity. Yet the Lost Cause ideology was equally a defensive mechanism, designed to protect the Confederacy against accusations of treason and dishonourable conduct.
An important contention made by the Lost Cause ideology was that secession had little or nothing to do with slavery. Defence of states’ rights, rather than the preservation of slavery, was the primary cause of secession, and thus a cause of the War. It argued that slavery was in fact a positive good: it was moral, since the enslaved were happy, grateful and contributed to America’s economic development. At the heart of the Lost Cause ideology was white supremacy, the belief that emancipation was a mistake and that a Black man and white man could never be politically and economically equal.
The theory also explained the reason for the Confederate’s defeat: that the North only won because it outnumbered the Confederate armies and possessed more resources. A religious cult later developed around Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General and commander of the Confederate States Army. The lack of Southern resources, manufacturing and manpower doomed it to be a failure from the start, hence the term “Lost Cause.”
Other ideas were also central to the Lost Cause: that the Confederates were a heroic, saintly people and that southern women steadfastly supported the cause by sacrificing their husbands and sons. The Lost Cause became a part of the historical narrative of Southern history, while equally setting expectations for the present and future of America.
Today, the Lost Cause retains little historical validity in academic circles. “The Lost Cause legacy to history is a caricature of the truth,” Allan Nolan once wrote. “The caricature wholly misrepresents and distorts the facts of the matter. Surely it is time to start again in our understanding of this decisive element of our past and to do so from the premises of history unadulterated by the distortions, falsehoods, and romantic sentimentality of the Myth of the Lost Cause.”
Ringgold Battery on drill, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Godfrey Weitzel and staff of fifteen, recognized -- Lt. George W. Davis, Lt. Horace B. Fitch, Lt. Emmons E. Graves, Capt. Alexander Piper, Capt. Lewis Weitzel, Capt. Daniel T. Wells, Lt. Col. Daniel T. Wheeler, between 1860-1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant standing by a tree in front of a tent, Cold Harbor, Va., circa 1864 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and staff of twelve. Recognized, - Maj. Locke, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Martin T. McMahon and staff of six, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Martin T. McMahon and staff of six, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Collection
A dead soldier in a trench, Petersburg, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Making Gabions in front of Petersburg, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
View of Yorktown, Va, May 1862 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Infantry camp, between 1860-1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Bvt. Maj. Gen. Robert S. Foster and staff of eight, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp scene, group of officers, 44th. N.Y. infantry, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
In the trenches before Petersburg, Va., 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson and staff of nine. Capt. Louis Seibert, Capt. Perkins, Capt. Sayles, Maj. C.E. Hackley, Lieut. Hull, Lieut. J.W. Andrews, Lieut. Yard, Capt. Edward H. Noyes, Capt. Russell. This picture was taken just before the Reams Station Raid, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Edward O.C. Ord and staff of fifteen, on the steps of Jeff Davis House, Richmond. Recognized - Lieut. Hugh G. Brown, Gen. N. Martin Curtis, Maj. Emmons E. Graves, Gen. Richard H. Jackson, Col. M.P. Small, Maj. George Suckley, Lieut. Daniel T. Wells, between 1860 and 1864 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
John Burns and cottage, Gettysburg, between 1860 and 1864 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Staff of Officers at Headquarters of 6th Army Corps, winter of 1864. Capt. Henry W. Farrar - A.D.C., Capt. Henry R. Dalton, Maj. Gen. Wright, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp scene with a roup of officers, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Infantry Company on parade, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Infantry Company on Parade, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp scene, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Landing on James River, Virginia, 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Officers' winter quarters, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Headquarters at Wilford House, Brandy Station, Va, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp scene with cooks at work, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Scene showing deserted camp and wounded soldier, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Officers of 164th and 170th N.Y. Inf, between 1860 and 1864 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp scene showing a cook's tent, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Battery (squad) on drill, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Regiment forming for parade, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Wounded soldiers in hospital, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Company "H", 44th Indiana Infantry, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Landing at White House, Pamunkey River, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Regiment moving out for dress parade, between 1860 and 1865 / Between Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Regiment moving out for dress parade, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Joseph Hooker and horse, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Surgeons of Harewood Hospital, Washington, D.C, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Hanover Junction, Penna., 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp of Infantry. Decorated and Company on parade, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
On deck of gunboat, bringing a parrott gun into position on board the "Mendota" / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Fort Totten, near Rock Creek Church, D. C, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Confederate prisoners waiting for transportation, Belle Plain, Va., between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Dutch Gap Canal in 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Deserted camp, unknown location, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Scene on the Orange and Alexandria (O. & A.) R.R. near Union Mills, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gun squad at drill, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Flag of the 8th Penna. Reserves, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Officers of Blenker's Division. between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Camp scene, guarding confederate prisoners, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Fredericksburg from the river. Showing Confederate troops and bridge (taken at a distance of one mile), between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Barricades at Alexandria, Va, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
View of a confederate fort, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Confederate works at Warren Station, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Portrait of a Chinese man, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's baggage wagon, between 1860 and 1865 / Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
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