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Back in 1995, I had an opportunity to do some civic service work in Montgomery, AL, that took me into an middle school classroom. I noticed a copy of the Alabama history textbook on the teacher's desk and leafed through it.
There was exactly one paragraph--one paragraph--about the Civil War. It said that prior to the war, everyone in Alabama was happy, but the war left everyone miserable.
Wow. I've never seen Alabama's textbooks. I have more familiarity with Georgia's textbooks. I don't remember any teacher of any race describing slavery as some benevolent institution. I had a take Georgia Studies in middle school (1999-2000 school year). We got brand new textbooks, to the point where the Columbine shooting was mentioned (it took place about 4 months before I we got those textbooks). I don't recall those textbooks ever mentioned slavery as being benevolent. I did mention that slaves had a hard life. It didn't go into as much detail as I would have liked, considering what I know. At the same time, I don't remember the textbook saying "before the war, everyone was happy, after, everyone was miserable". None of that. And I went to a middle school in a county where people were still flying Confederate flags (not in my neighborhood though).
I would expect that out of 1995 Alabama, particularly Montgomery. Montgomery was one of the Confederate capitals. It became Alabama's state capital at a time when most of Alabama's population was concentrated in the Cotton Belt (where Montgomery is located). I feel like Montgomery is an anachronism of sorts.
You may have avoided or overcome the propaganda by replacing with critical thinking strategies, & independent thought processes.
& by your own willful refusal to pretend you were asleep.
Personally, I believe there are always choices. One can choose to emulate or avoid a trend of thought, another person's thoughtviews, or any other part of the status quo. Automatons don't make choices, people do.
I don't remember the Lost Cause ever being taught to me. In fact, in the 5th grade, I was taught that slavery had something to do with why the South wanted war. This wasn't taught to me by some "woke" person. This was a elderly White female, born and raised in Georgia. We were taught about the more detailed parts of the war, such as the food, getting sick, guns, and clothes. I never heard any of that "Lost Cause" rhetoric from her.
I never got any more lessons about the Civil War again until the 8th grade. Different county, different school, same state though (Georgia). Slavery was never described as benevolent. And I never heard the term "war of northern aggression". Same thing in the 11th grade when I got U.S. History. Strangely, this is when my history teacher played "Gone With The Wind" in class. But even he never referred to slavery as a good thing, nor did he call the war "the war of northern aggression". I think what I got in middle school and high school was less and less detailed lessons about the Civil War. I get the feeling few teachers wanted to discuss it.
I was a voracious bookworm as a kid. I read books because I wanted to. And I was mainly a non-fiction kind of person. The first person to teach me about the Confederate flag was my father. This was before Georgia changed its flag. He taught me about what the Confederates were about.
I never got much of a brainwashing. I never got teachers who were immersed in the "Lost Cause" mythology. What I did get were teachers who tried to teach about the Civil War without offending anyone's sensibilities.
I agree that there are always choices. I had always known slavery played a big role in the South wanting secession. I think many of the kids in my high school either pretended to be asleep, or did what they could to stay asleep. I think some of those kids got the Lost Cause mythology from their parents. I don't remember my U.S. history teacher ever teaching that mythology (and I got A's in U.S. History). What I do remember was me trying to tell other kids who did wear Confederate flag t-shirts what the Confederate flag was about. And then getting a belligerent reaction from some.
I could never relate to many of the kids I went to middle school/high school with. Checking up on some of them over the years confirms this even more.
I don't remember the Lost Cause ever being taught to me. In fact, in the 5th grade, I was taught that slavery had something to do with why the South wanted war. This wasn't taught to me by some "woke" person. This was a elderly White female, born and raised in Georgia. We were taught about the more detailed parts of the war, such as the food, getting sick, guns, and clothes. I never heard any of that "Lost Cause" rhetoric from her.
I never got any more lessons about the Civil War again until the 8th grade. Different county, different school, same state though (Georgia). Slavery was never described as benevolent. And I never heard the term "war of northern aggression". Same thing in the 11th grade when I got U.S. History. Strangely, this is when my history teacher played "Gone With The Wind" in class. But even he never referred to slavery as a good thing, nor did he call the war "the war of northern aggression". I think what I got in middle school and high school was less and less detailed lessons about the Civil War. I get the feeling few teachers wanted to discuss it.
I was a voracious bookworm as a kid. I read books because I wanted to. And I was mainly a non-fiction kind of person. The first person to teach me about the Confederate flag was my father. This was before Georgia changed its flag. He taught me about what the Confederates were about.
I never got much of a brainwashing. I never got teachers who were immersed in the "Lost Cause" mythology. What I did get were teachers who tried to teach about the Civil War without offending anyone's sensibilities.
I agree that there are always choices. I had always known slavery played a big role in the South wanting secession. I think many of the kids in my high school either pretended to be asleep, or did what they could to stay asleep. I think some of those kids got the Lost Cause mythology from their parents. I don't remember my U.S. history teacher ever teaching that mythology (and I got A's in U.S. History). What I do remember was me trying to tell other kids who did wear Confederate flag t-shirts what the Confederate flag was about. And then getting a belligerent reaction from some.
I could never relate to many of the kids I went to middle school/high school with. Checking up on some of them over the years confirms this even more.
Thanks & respect for the clarifications, much appreciated.
The following piece, from The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War, Rewriting History: A Study of How the History of the Civil War Has Changed in Textbooks from 1876 to 2014 is an accurate review of the subject:
Slavery remained the central cause of the Civil War until 1954, when textbooks began to agree with Davis and Jefferson’s earlier claim that secession and war were caused by states’ rights. Howard Wilder’s This is America’s Story (1954) addresses the growing notion of the violation of states’ rights in the South: “Southerners believed they could protect their way of living by insisting that the United States government should keep its hands off all matters which it had not been given the definite authority by the Constitution.”14 This passage hints at preserving the Southern way of life, which historically involved slavery. It also responds to the argument made in 1911 about the interpretation of the Constitution. Ever since 1954, the argument for states’ rights has been brought up in the pages of textbooks, often in conjunction with slavery.
When I discuss the American Civil War with others in real life, most or all of the folks are baffled by the "states' rights" assertion. The most common response, when I bring it up, along with bafflement, is "which state right? The right to enslave?"
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