so her father actually sent her a letter describing the -- their experiences as the union troops continue to occupy their community. they lived in surry county, but she spent a lot of time, as i said, in virginia during the war. so her father wrote to her saying i wish we had 50 or 100 scouts. it would certainly break up all marauding parties from the river. they had experienced desserters coming to their home trying to take what little food supplies that they had. a young woman named jane sievely also received word that federal soldiers had visited her community, and she discussed how the troops had burned homes, and that was something that a lot of young women believed that the union troops were responsible for burning a lot of the supplies in the homes in their communities, and in actuality a lot of the confederates did that

themselves, because they didn't want their supplies to get in the hands of the union troops. not all, but we have to question who actually started the fire when they mentioned those things. i just wanted to mention that. so certainly a lot of these young women are experiencing a lot of distress, and they're not home to be able to help with their family. jane sievely certainly was a member of a very wealthy family in mississippi, but she was away in marion, alabama, when she heard the news of the burning of these homes, and certainly she was very scared. she sought out her brother to console her, william sievely, and he really didn't do a very good job of it. he expressed to his sister his own fears of the emotional and financial toll on the family

resulting from federal occupation. he wrote this. i'm fearful that the union troops have been there and burned out everybody. i would give anything if pa was out of there with all his effects. it just really increased these young women's sense of anger and resentment towards the union because now their families are personally being affected by these events. young women, though, when they actually were in the face of the union troops openly demonstrated their patriotism, their resentment, their anger. now, defiance of union occupation was nothing new on the homefront. women of the older generation have often refused to concede to the enemy in very public ways. one of the most prominent examples, of course, comes from new orleans. in april of 1862 after

occupation, women, believing that their gender exempted them from any form of punishment, openly defied union occupation. in their daily interaction with troops, they insulted soldiers, refused to sit in the presence of officers, they avoided walking under the u.s. flag. in extreme cases some women spat on the soldiers, and in even more extreme cases, dumped chamber pots on them. the contents of the chamber pots. in response union major general benjamin butler, who is the commanding officer overseeing occupation of new orleans passed general order number 28 which basically said that any woman who defied union authority would be treated as "a woman of the town." basically would be treated like a prostitute or punished like a prostitute. these older women, of course, garnered more attention from the union occupiers, especially the

officers in charge because they're older women, they're more connected to the confederate cause. their husband are off either serving in the government or they're fighting in the war. so they took them very seriously. however, the young women -- the girls of my study group discovered that their youth and their claims of being rather naive because of their age, in addition to their gender actually afforded them more freedom in their defiance. they became more blatant and assertive in their criticism of union troops. by invoking the conventional notions of female behavior and claiming inexperience, young women could avoid the allegiance -- the oath of allegiance, punishment for any sort of acts of defiance.

they recognize the leniency of these union officers and took full advantage of it. for example, mary dunbar of nach ez, mississippi, played tricks on soldiers to forage for food and other supplies. on one occasion in 1863 a soldier went up to her and asked her how to eat a pomegranate. and she told him to bite right into it, and knowing that the fruit, of course, would yield a very bitter taste, if one eats more than just the seeds, and the soldier became very enraged and threatened to punish her, but, of course, mary just laughed at him. she was 17, and she just thought it was downright funny. she escaped punishment, but mary's mother did not. when she refused to walk under a union flag, a federal officer ordered her to leave the city

and the home was confiscated. mary got away with it, and her mother could not -- a popular way to defy union authority again is fashion. it was kind of a subtle thing, but to be able to kind of defy authority by transforming their dress, changing sort of dress habits. one example is with hoop skirts. sort of the famous image of the hoop skirt of the southern belle. many young women believed that this was a frivolous trend, and was certainly not a good thing during these hard times of war. and so a lot of the young women went without their hoops as kind of a show of support for the confederacy. they were avoiding sort of the unnecessary luxuries. other young women did it as a form of defiance. a good example is in the occupy

town of memphis, tennessee, the newspaper reported that although hoop skirts are plentiful in memphis, the rebel women have agreed among themselves not to wear them. it is their secret sign. it's their badge, their rebel flag. no longer allowed to flaunt past our brave soldiers with their emblems of treason penned to their dresses and bonnets. they have hit upon this plant. they're not able to wear their little mini-confederate flags or other blatant signs of the confederacy, but by taking out the hoops from their skirts, that's kind of their secret way of doing that. >> at one point the article kind of mentioned that one young woman had an interaction with the union soldier who asked why aren't you young women wearing your hoop skirts, and she responded you yankees can't make us wear hoops. that was their way of sort of in a subtle way defying the enemy.

also, when threatened with punishment, young women often were able to kind of charm their way out of it. soldiers would relent. one of my favorite examples is cordelia lewis scales of holly springs, mississippi. she refused to keep quiet when union officers actually commandeered her home in january of 1863. one evening an officer's wife asked scales to play something on the piano. the only way -- the only reason why she did it was because and, of course, she told her she only played rebel songs. her mother said the union troops have treated us very well. please, please, play for them. so she did, but the next day captain flynn of the 90th illinois regiment visited scales, having heard about her talent on the piano, and wanted

her to play "my maryland." at first she refused, but then, of course, her parents once again reminded her of the kindness of the soldiers. especially because they had provided food for the family. and so after she finished playing, she wrote out the words of the song for the officer, because he asked her to, but also took the opportunity to send him a message. she drew a confederate flag above the lyrics and wrote, "no northern hand shall rule this land." of course, most young women were able to avoid these kinds -- any sort of punishment for these kinds of expressions, and that was a way for them to show their continued support for the confederacy. another way that they were able

to defy the enemy and express support was through their social activities. this is where things become really difficult for them. when it comes to maintaining their view of the union. many officers -- union officers and their wives hosted social events while stationed in the south. they often extended invitations of the young women of community, and certainly young women would refuse these invitations. ellen renshaw house recorded her disgust with her female peers who actually did attend some of those engagements. myra enman of cleveland, tennessee would always turn away any union soldier, especially her age, who was seeking to court her. and she wrote that a lieutenant stopped by to visit, and she refused to see him, because, quote, he is a yank. union occupation did bring some

romantic temptations, and this is where it became hard. in fact, maybe their hearts kind of softened a little bit toward the union. certainly not towards lincoln, but the union in general. the increase in the number of eligible young men seemed very attract -- very attractive situation because the number of eligible southern men had diminished. however willing they were to socialize with them on occasion, the peer pressure to maintain their patriotic allegiance kept them from going any further. to engage in a romantic relationship with the enemy would symbolize a disrespect of the cause. this was no easy task for some. emma riley of virginia contemplated an evening out with a union officer, but was unwilling to risk being marked as unpatriotic by other young

women. she wrote this -- this was in her memoirs. it was oftentimes hard to resist and required all the loyalty i could bring to bare to do so. in one evening union officer asked her to go on a sleigh ride with him, suggesting that if she was afraid, she could wear a veil over her face so she could go unrecognized. riley responded to the officer that "my conscience would be behind that veil." of course, turned him down. it certainly became even more of a test of their allegiance. riley mentioned this in her memoirs. it was a severe test of my loyalty and devotion to my country to be able to resist my enemies when i might have enjoyed so many privileges dear to a young girl's heart. now, mingling with soldiers from their same socioeconomic class often created conflicting

feelings towards the enemies, and this was where we start to see their hearts kind of soften a little bit. living in richmond after occupation maria smith peak expressed disgust at the idea of living in "yankee town." yet, she felt a sense of comfort when officers boarding in her home who in her view displayed the mannerisms of gentility, and they surprised her, and she was very pleased. certainly she was surprised by their refinement, and she admitted that she feared, quote, "they will succeed by their leniency and kindness in winning over some of the southern people in healing their wounds. in 1862 maria's family had lost their home in hampton, virginia, to a fire after federal troops occupied their community. she was forced into a refugee household in richmond, and the

young woman grew very resentful toward the union. even with the occupation of richmond and the subsequent end of the war, she hoped to "fan and keep alive the spirit of revenge." one evening, however, as she stewed over the confederacy's defeat, she heard music of officers and she said that she actually was experiencing an internal struggle taking place inside of her as the music, quote, "was almost melting my soul into forgiveness." as her interaction with officers and soldiers continued, she ibt intimated to her beau, the difficulty in reconciling her feelings the men she both feared and despised. she wrote this to her boyfriend,

essentially. "as far as we have had to deal with them, we found them polite and obliging, guarding our premises, strictly, and thereby saving us much trouble." maria admitted that no matter how polite, how courteous and how handsome they may be, it's not enough to overcome her anger towards the enemy that, quote, had been fighting for the last four years in deadly conflict against my brothers and my friends. now, as the war ended, young women found new transgressions to lay at the feet of lincoln, and the abolitionists. and this was in the form of the presidents of friedman and african-american soldiers. the instability of slavery, along with the presence of african-american troops in union-occupied areas fueled young women's devotion to the confederate cause. reports of individual acts of rebellion, mainly in the form of escaping the plantation, and

thus the chaens of slavery, certainly signified to young women that the traditional racial order of the south was falling apart. one example is -- comes from kate foster of nachess, mississippi. she witnessed a former slave attempting to take a seat among white members of the congregation. and she blamed this boldness on the influence of union soldiers. and she wrote this. "i should not be surprised if some one of our enemies had sent him to the church as an insult to us." foster, however, could not escape the weakening of control the slaves in her home, and she grew to even resent them. she wrote this. "ned and mae, who are household slaves, basically, are still with us, but they do not work. ned goes to town every day after

something connected with the devil, no doubt. ma tilde left last night. we think all will go. who so ever it pleases their majesties." chloe tyler whittle felt a lot of resentment, as well, and directed -- which she directed toward the union government overseeing african-american soldiers in her hometown of norfolk, virginia. and she wrote this. "yankees, in theirin so lens and wickedness have armed the negros. a regiment have come to pollute norfolk with their detested presence." now, as the war actually came to an end, we read that young women are very much still concerned about events, what's going to be the fate of the confederacy, the former confederacy, what's going to happen to them, in essence. but ultimately, they were more concerned about reuniting the

family circle. what was left of it, in some cases. and so that really occupied most of their attention as the war came to an end. now, in conclusion, when all renshaw stood in the face of the ene enemy, she met the ultimate fate of banishment. this was the consequences of resistance. but her actions, like those of her female peers, demonstrated deep anxieties about their future as wives, mothers and members of the slave-holding gentry class. the cultural script that they had internalized was now at stake, and they turned their attention to what they saw as the primary source of this disruption. president lincoln and northern abolitionists. although willing to express their sentiments and both statements about their perceived enemy, they also found a way to channel their rancorous feelings through patriotic events in the homefront. and as federal troops marched

into southern communities, they found even more immediate, intimate targets to place -- to replace the distant ones far away above the mason dixon line. yet what makes all this significant in the lives of young women? why even bother to study this aspect of their experience? born out of a conservative desire to preserve the past and ensure a continuation of female social convention and values, their willingness to convey their political sentiments publicly, join in home front activities and defy union occupiers brought them into a new world of civic engagement, unknown to them in the antebellum era. ultimately, helping to alter what it meant to be southern and female. thank you very much. since the wealthy or elite had more to lose than the middle class, was there a difference in perception of the north and lincoln? >> i'm sorry. repeat the beginning of that question again. >> since the elite or wealthy

had one perception of the north and lincoln as compared to the middle class, was there a difference in how they perceived him? >> oh, okay. well, him? >> oh, okay. actually since the new research is sort of looking at the plain folk before and during the war, i actually found a lot of similar expressions. of course, they're not as concerned about the fate of displays in their homes because they don't have any or they have very few. but it's very much similar in terms of the way that they're expressing themselves, what they're saying. >> six months of the war, it appears that only jefferson davis and confederate women didn't really realize they were losing. why? >> well, actually, there is some really interesting work that's been done about that. there's been a discussion among

historians about, you know, how women felt about the war, and most i think would agree now that while women questioned the continuation of the war, they never questioned the cause. and when they experienced occupation and actually these intimate interactions with union troops, that just riled them up even more. i have a great story of one young woman, pauline decarideau, who was from south carolina, very, very wealthy family macon, south carolina, and at the end of the war everybody is celebrating the return of the soldiers and they are very happy and they're having all these parties. and she was so angry. she was a very pretty young woman, very sought after by eligible men, and they wanted her to come to one of their parties and actually sent her a carriage to take her to the party, and she wrote in her diary that she was so mad at

them that she sent the carriage back to them empty. so, they -- i think for many of these young women in my age group, they just didn't want to give up because of the sense that they had invested so much in the war, and they wanted to see the cause successful. their mothers, though, you know, they're different. they're dealing with having to reunite the family. dealing with taking care of their children. while their husbands and fathers and so forth are away. so, these young women kind of have the privilege to continue supporting the war even as it's very clear they're going to lose. >> did southern women's attitude change with the assassination of lincoln? and also, how do scholars view

the mary boykin chestnut's diary from dixie? >> that's a good question, too. first of all, i've only had -- i've only got a couple of examples and i don't have them with me of how young women looked at the assassination. very few of them actually remarked on it, which i was surprised about. the ones that did actually expressed a lot of remorse, you know, understanding that they dislike lincoln didn't mean that they wanted him dead. and they understood that this was, you know, an act of murder, and it was -- i don't -- i never had any evidence of them saying, you know, it was a good thing and that they supported, you know, booth and all of that. so, they actually have sympathy, the ones that i was able to get evidence from. the mary chestnut boykin byry in particular you wanted to know

how historians view it. i think, you know, it's a typical diary of an older southern woman. i think a lot of people use -- i think the most famous part of that diary was her questioning of display systems and whether or not southern women were abolitionists at heart. i assume that was kind of where you were going with that. and since then historians have remarked that while she's expressing that kind of sentiment that we could perceive as an abolitionist remark, she's not. she is -- her status, her standing in society comes from display holding in society, the institution of slavery, in other words. what she's remarking about is really the kind of work, the frustration that she experiences in dealing day to day with the

enslaved. >> final question. >> uh-huh. >> did you come across any views of white southern unionist women and how they tried to fit in with society? and also what about the african-american women, both freed and enslaved and how they fit in with the predominant view? >> uh-huh. that's a good question, too. the thing about the unionists, there's a really good book about alabama's unionist called "loyalty and loss" by margaret storey. and it's fascinating because she uncovers all of these unionists throughout the state primarily in the northern part of the state because they're small farmers and that sort of thing. and when the war actually starts, the unionists have to go underground. they have to go into hiding. and a lot of these men who were unionists, who are in hiding, have to leave their wives and

their families behind. in some cases the whole family goes into hiding. and so these unionist women are father resentful towards the fact that, you know, their family is in jeopardy, that, you know, they fear for the safety of their families or their husbands, so that's really sort of what happens to the unionists. after the war, of course, storey points out that they come out of hiding and they're the ones who will help lead on the local and state level reconstruction. in terms of enslaved women and their activities on the home front, that sort of falls outside of the framework of my research, but for many of these -- for many of the enslaved women that i study in my own -- as a teacher actually, they are having to stay on the

plantation. during most of the war. if there's an opportunity for them to lead, they will. but you have to remember these women have children, and it's easier for the men to leave and go to union lines than it is for the women to. and so they are -- they're remaining in the plantation, which unfortunately the white planters believe that that's a sign of their loyalty when in actuality it's not. it's out of practical reasons. of course, once the war ends, i've got lots of evidence from the side of these young girls of how the slaves who leave the plantation, the nurses who would nurse them and so forwarth and cooks, they're leaving either because, "a," they're being lured away by the federal troops, or they're just horrible people and they couldn't come to terms with the fact that they

wanted freedom. i hope that answers your question. a generation before president john f. kennedy acting on behalf of a grateful nation designated him an honorary american citizen, winston churchill paid his own heartfelt tribute to his transatlantic origins, appearing before a joint session of congress on the day after christmas 1941, he puckish i had observed, "i cannot help reflecting that if my father had been american and my mother british, instead of the other way around, i might have got here on my own." today, outside the british embassy on massachusetts avenue churchill literally is astride two nations, with one bronze foot planted on british soil, the other on american. this pleased the old man himself no end. of the statue announced on his 89th birthday, the honorary

american said "i feel it will rest happily and sincerely on both feet." controversy arose over the depiction of the wartime prime minister, not because of his characteristically defiant stance with right hand raised in a trademark "v" for victory salute, no, it was another churchill icon, the cigar in his left hand, that offended some members of the english-speaking union, the organization responsible for the sculpture. in the end authenticity and the cigar won out. unveiled a year after churchill's death in 1965, the figure seems even larger than its nine-foot dimensions would indicate. almost half a century on, wynntwi winston churchill still manages to dominate his surroundings. >> by the way, i cannot help but reflecting that if my father had been american and my mother