Several of the latest neo-Confederate efforts to prevent progress revolve around Reconstruction, which neo-Confederates and their sympathizers abhor, describing it as the seed of the 'upppityness' which has made blacks unmanageable ever since slavery ended. They are currently exercising their antipathy by trying to prevent historic preservation efforts that will document and memorialize Reconstruction. Preservationists throughout the country have turned their attention to South Carolina, where Reconstruction began.
A bill shepherded through the U.S. Senate by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., has set aside $300,000 to complete two studies over three years.
One study would be a national search designed to identify U.S. sites and resources significant to Reconstruction.
The second would determine whether five Beaufort County sites with strong ties to Reconstruction should be added to the National Park System.
Second District Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of Lexington introduced a similar bill in the U.S. House that could be debated when Congress reconvenes next month, if Wilson pushes it.
The mainstream view of Reconstruction captures the complexity and hopefulness of the time.
Reconstruction was that period immediately after the war, from 1865 to 1877, when the Union tried to heal itself socially, spiritually and economically.
Factories were down, millions of former slaves had no education, land or other means of self-support, and families were torn apart. The country's future seemed fragile.
"The term Reconstruction referred to the literal rebuilding of the war-ravaged South and the metaphorical rebuilding of the Union," the National Park Service's Brenda Barrett told Congress earlier this year.
The neo-Confederates, and most white Southerners who were brought up on the myth of the valiant South, disagree.
Popularly in South Carolina, Reconstruction is that period when the federal government imposed its will and blacks headed state government, ruling corruptly and ruining the lives of poor whites.
Though 60 years of historical research shows that view to be racist and wrong, it persists.
"Denigrating and dismissing black officeholders as illiterate, venal, propertyless rogues is one of the most enduring myths of Reconstruction," USC history professor Walter Edgar wrote in "South Carolina: A History."
Article comments
1 - nolan corder
your nonsense is just more liberal anti-southern bigotry that has been spewed at the south by virulant yankee radicals for along time and will not go away. you do more to divide us than anyone.
2 - Mac Diva
Really? And, I could have sworn that I am gal from North Carolina some of whose ancestors were here all along.
3 - Know Better Than You
And to think that all those goods, land, money that was stolen by the carpetbagging yankees during reconstruction was really for our own good. All the citizens who were murdered and beaten, was for our own good. All our churches and universities vandalized and burned, and it was really good for us. [personal attack deleted] Try reading "The Tragic Era" by Bowers, for a true look at what the horrible period called "reconstruction" was really like. [personal attack deleted]
4 - Mac Diva
[personal attack deleted]
5 - Mac Diva
Saying I am descended from the 'property 'the commenter above claims was stolen from his ancestors by the Civil War, i.e, slaves, is not a personal attack on anyone. However, seeing it deleted is an excellent reminder of Right Wingers' desire to 'erase' slavery. Meanwhile, the commenter's screeching about being deprived of human chattel is left intact. But no-o-o, Right Wingers are not bigots.
6 - Mike Kole
Being of Slavic descent, and of immigrants who came to the US 25 years after the Civil War ended, I really don't have a dog in this fight, or any ancestral spat. I suppose I could hold some grudge towards people of Germanic and/or Russian descent, since the word Slavic has a literal root (Slav = slave) and their great-great-great-great-grandparents were owning mine, but I can't see any real point.
In the same way, I can't see much real point in those who continue this spat in the US today, on either side. The Civil War ended 139 years ago, folks, and none of you had anything to do with it. None of you were wronged in any way by the Civil War or by Reconstruction.
Of course, it is fun for me to go to Atlanta and wear my 'Sons of General Sherman' t-shirt.
7 - Mac Diva
Stop taking your life in your hands, Mike-:).
My years in Atlanta have got to have been among the most schizoid I've known. My friends were a diverse group of all races, both genders and some internationals. But, the neo-Confederate ethos was still very much present. Among other things, I learned there were still clubs and restaurants where people of color are not welcome. The hatred directed at the political establishment by some white people was amazing. Still, we were young and had a lot of fun. Sometimes, I miss the place.