>> next professor jennifer murray talks about how civil war reunions have a change from the reconstruction era to the present. she described how after two years after the war, the focus was reconciliation but has expanded to include slavery as a cause of the war. this class is 1.5 hours. >> last time we met with our discussion of the culture of the civil war commemoration we left off talking about david blake and civil war reunions, reconciliation and we had a reading from james foster and his conversation of the confederacy. what i want to continue the conversation with today, for today's topic, the culture of civil war commemoration, looking at these themes we have talked about an post-civil war america

from 1855 to the present. what i thought would be useful backing up on the conversation this specifically with the context we have talked about, to reiterate the point on how important the american civil war is and how monumental the event was in american history. i made the point last time we met that the american civil war was from 1861-1865 the casualties were 2% of the population. if you all take that for two today, that would be the equivalent of the 19th century population 2%, how many fatalities today if the u.s. was in a war?

>> 6 million. jennifer murray: 6 million americans would be the rate if we had 2% of the population killed today in an american war. the american civil war left no one untouched. the american civil war became -- created suffering. it was -- no one was left untouched. what we want to look at for our conversation today is the legacy of the american civil war. how northerners remember the civil war, how veterans commemorate it, how southerners deal with defeat. how x confederate veterans deal with accusations of treason. the american civil war solved

questions of union and secession, freedom manifestation, sovereignty. this is the impact we see today. so, the defining moment in american history certainly for 19th-century america. what i want to do today, and our approach, it is twofold. one, i want us to walk through scenes of creating civil war memories and perpetuating these. we will start the discussion talking about the north, how union veterans commemorate the civil war, how northerners commemorate the civil war and then we will talk about what foster brought up in his conversation of the lost cause. we will talk about southern memories in the american civil war. and then we will transition and

talk about how african-americans remember the civil war and their memories of dealing with the duality of freedom and emancipation. then we will see, we will bring blight into the conversation and howard conciliation takes hold and how it was the dominant narrative, the dominant mode of civil war memory. then, once we get these under these -- our belt, once we are comfortable with these narratives, we will take a look at gettysburg and walk-through is berg as a case -- gettysburg as a case study on how these memories play out. and i hope that you will see that these narratives that these veterans created to deal with this event 600 -- 600,000

fatalities we will look at it from our own culture. we will look at how americans commemorate gettysburg and scenes of reconciliation in 1938, 1963 which parallels the civil rights movement, how they look at it in the 1960's and we will end with a discussion of how today in 2013, 2014, 2015 how we look at the war today. and its legacy. now, the reason we picked gettysburg as a case study, my research deals with gettysburg and its history. more than that, it is the iconic battle of the american civil war. it was fought in july 1863.

the union army of until this time was suffering a string of defeat, mead was the commander of the army, brings about 90,000 forces into pennsylvania and in three days the seemingly invincible robert ulee -- robert e lee and his army, after three days, the union army claimed victory. it was a monumental event and the civil war. the tide is turned. after 1855, the veterans come back to get and they commemorate a memorial, making it permanently set in american history and our narrative. basically where the war was one.

-- won. that is the direction we will take in our presentation today. we will move forward on how veterans remember the civil war. we will start with the north. mystic chords memories. this aligned with president clinton's -- having people share a common past. memories are created, we create memories in our own minds, we choose to remember things in a particular way. we manifest things, nostalgic memories. and these veterans did the same. union and confederate veterans remember the war in different ways. through different mediums. they form fraternal organizations, the grand army of

the republic, this is the fraternal organization for the union, born in 1866. they write many amounts of literature, give speeches, take a look at parades, they mourn the dead. southerners and northerners will invest in these types of things. there are different ways that veterans and 19th-century veterans remember the war. one of the dominant scenes that will come out in the north in the commemoration of the civil war, for union veterans, it is how they view secession. how do union veterans and northerners view secession and

the confederate, their southern brothers? we talk about reunion, but how would david blight identify reconciliation? >> trying to figure out how to put them back together, even though they were split. he wants to bring the northerners with the southerners, together. jennifer murray: would you say that ray and reunion are synonymous terms? >> no. jennifer murray: how are they different? >> there is still separation between them. jennifer murray: this is seated

-- the seceded states are brought back into the union, but reconciliation implies a degree of proactive participation among the northerners and southerners. does it imply forgiveness? >> they have to forgive as far as the dead, but as far as how they will be treated. jennifer murray: what dominant theme did you see in postwar union commemoration, as acknowledging the south as traders -- traitors. you see it explicitly, the union army suppressed the ask of treason. -- acts of treason. let's look at some quotes. commemorating the suppression of treason. victory to the rebellion meant

death to the republic. reunion is not an abstract concept. they have a tangible definition of what union means, what citizenship means. you see this theme of glorifying the cause for union soldiers, for suppressing the ask -- acts of treason. let's take an example. this is the dedication speech i gave you all last time. very explicit in understanding what union and civil war veterans met. this is june 12 1889 in gettysburg, the 25th anniversary , 26 years since the battle at gettysburg. the union veterans are coming back to the battlefield and they

are erecting monuments. when they erect these monuments they give exclusive and exquisite understandings of what they thought of their sacrifice. based on what you read last time from this dedication speech and i will throw up some of the quotes on the screen, where did these union veterans come down on this issue? >> there was -- they believe it was their solemn duty to proclaim and reiterate that loyalty was, is deep dark and -- treason will be deep dark and a mobile. jennifer murray: was he also suggesting in the last sentences about relating the battlefield and landscape and those who fought there, to treason?

>> basically, for the people who died there, they died for nothing, those who were treasonous. jennifer murray: what did lincoln say when he dedicated the cemetery? they did not die in vain. so, this was almost a mockery of where soldiers fell. if you do not acknowledge that this was treason, then those union soldiers who died there and other places have died in vain. back to the first part. anything strike you about sentiments of reconciliation or devices -- divisive parts, in

this passage? you can look at the first couple sentences. he is saying -- >> he is calling it treasonous. jennifer murray: are we buying into this? or -- look toward the last sentence. what is he saying? >> the feeling of bitterness. jennifer murray: is he contradictory or what? we don't have feelings of a bitterness, but -- >> no offense, but came -- but then saying something very offense -- offensive. jennifer murray: right, how can he get away with this?

this very over-the-top rhetoric about calling the south treasonous. who is his audience? >> almost all former union people there that day. at this point, it is all northerners. jennifer murray: well, other dedication speeches like this they are northern veterans, from this regiment. this is michigan day. these are soldiers that he fought with for the last few years and these are the same in composition. so, to what extent does that dictate what he could say? >> they all agree with them. they will all agree with them on how the south was. jennifer murray: so if you had a mixed audience, what would happen to this type of rhetoric?

>> treason comments would be out of the question. jennifer murray: right, you know your audience. so save and doesn't go to -- nick saveben doesn't go into auburn and say, roll tide. you have to know your audience. so these reconciliation comments are for his audience. are they overstated? >> yes the northerners and southerners would be at odds for years to come. jennifer murray: right, but they would need to bridge this chasm and we will see if the writer changes. and you will see pretty particular rhetoric from union soldiers, they acknowledge

courage of southern soldiers. they were brave but they were still what? >> still traitors. jennifer murray: so, now that he's in recognizing valor and courage, but that does not mean that they were not committing treason. they are -- >> it is still reconciliation on the northern terms. jennifer murray: 25 years after the war reconciliation and reconstruction. the south is not happy participants. >> socially, i mean. not officially, but among people who are there. jennifer murray: we will see if that same lesson deepens further

out from 1865. so from the view of the north, the takeaway, reconciliation is the dominant theme of civil war memory. reconciliation and other dominant themes, you have reconciliation and what else? >> emancipation. jennifer murray: reconciliation is the dominant theme, so blight says. reconciliation is not monolithic. it is not monolithic. in fact, there are issues, discords, that really underscore these deep animosities between northerners and southerners. for the north, the union is not abstract, it is concrete. so, if you sit down in alabama

virginia, how will you take to this rhetoric coming from the yankees up north? what will you respond? >> it was not treason. jennifer murray: right. so what is the south going to do? we are switching gears. the south will create their own constellation of civil war memories. and the south will create and perpetuate the very same notion of the lost cause. so reconciliation is the dominant theme of post-civil war america, but it is not monolithic. it is changing. and when you take union veterans and confederate veterans and you stack their memories together, you get a complicated and

colorful tapestry of civil war memories. everyone remembers things differently, particularly in the northern and southern divide. this is relative to what we talked about last time when you read out of james foster possible -- foster's book. so the southerners will not passively accept the allegations of treason that the northerners are placing on them. they will be proactive in creating their own versions of memories and promoting their own narrative. edward pollard, he is a virginian and he will be the one to coin the term, lost cause. it is an 18 six he six -- 1866 one year after robert e lee surrenders.

so how does the lost cause work into these memories? how would you define the lost cause, based on what you have read? how would you define the lost cause? >> the south -- jennifer murray: yes, over 600,000 americans died, over 300,000 of them are southerners. what did they die for? did they get their independent? -- independence? what did they die for? >> nothing. jennifer murray: seems that way. now they have to deal with the idea that god was on their side, but now they lost, so they have the religious experience, coping with physical destruction of the south. sherman who marched through the south. how do you cope with the defeat?

what does the lost cause become? >> the rationalization of the war, the only way that they can cope with it is through this explanation. jennifer murray: an explanation of why they lost. how they cope with the fee. explanation of why they lost comes from general robert e lee himself. surrendering in appomattox, just over 30,000 men in the army, the next day he addresses them in the famous general orders number nine. the first paragraph. the first sentence. how does he explain the confederate feet? -- defeat?

>> resources population, had nothing to do with their debris -- bravery. jennifer murray: right, for every confederate soldier, the union camp without five soldiers. so they say that they did not have enough manpower materials not because they were inferior or that slavery was bad. but because there -- because they did not have enough stuff. this is one of the most enduring myths of the lost cause. it's a cold right away. -- it took hold right away. what would continue in this philosophy, the rationalization we will not talk about the

causes of the civil war. so what will we really not talk about? >> slavery. jennifer murray: right and what permeates is that slavery had nothing to do with the civil war. it completely disappeared -- disassociates slavery with the secession. and it is how southerners cope with it. so, one of the most enduring sort of proactive southern champions of the lost cause is jubal earl. and the north has different ghr

posts and the south has different societies. the virginians, the writers of the civil war narrative, they will give influences to the southern historical societies and be very influential. after the war -- flees the country, he cannot deal with defeat. he will come back and settle in lynchburg and be a supporter of the loss caused narrative. after the civil war seven hours -- southerners by into the loss cause. so the historical society is

important, and other proactive organizations that summarily attach similarly promote this lost cause idea. the ucb -- ucv, formed in 1889. the confederate veteran is a magazine published in nashville and it contains writings by confederate veterans who publish memories. fantastic source, a journal space. and then you see a component of southern women redirecting civil war narratives and memories. the united daughters of the

confederacy, udc formed in 1894. they would have many chapters in the south. by world war i, they have over 100,000 members. so these organizations are proactive in responding to northern allegations of treason. they are proactive in having the discussion of the lost cause and actively disassociating slavery as a contributor factor to secession in the american civil war. so looking specifically at some of these activities and the language that southerners put forth in creating their own tapestry of civil war memories. we will talk about the udc

--united daughters of the confederacy. this is mildred rutherford. she is georgian, from athens. she will occupy the position of historian general for five years. and take a minute and read, let it steep in, the explanation that she has for slavery and the civil war. two quotes. and then you have me your reactions to that sentence. >> not true. jennifer murray: what part of it

is not true? >> the first one. there might have been a few that were really taken care of, but as a majority in the deep south well fed if they acted -- well closed -- clothed. i think it is a lie. jennifer murray: we make generalizations about slavery and what being a slave was like so where you were a slave mattered. your experience and virginia is different than further south. and when you were a slave matters. so, what about the second part of it? has the negro benefited from freedom, what does she say? no. >> she is implying that they had more freedom while they were

slaves, that is what it sounds like. jennifer murray: we can go in a number of directions with this. let's start with a couple of things. would southerners agree with this, or is she on the french? -- fringe. >> most would agree. slavery was part of their livelihood. they want to cover it up. jennifer murray: move forward into the old south. how did southerners justify slavery? slaves come in the early 1600s there has been two centuries of slavery, it is part of the political and social hierarchy. so how do they justify slavery?

>> they want to have the ideal of the paternal relationship, keeping them, they are a lot better as slaves in america than they were as people in africa. jennifer murray: where else are they comparing opportunities for blacks? they are saying it is better to be a slave in the southland a free man in the north. work for wages in the factories in the north? surely it is better to be fed and sheltered as a slave in the south. so do you see more continuity in these justifications of slavery? >> you will hear from people today who feel the kin to the

lost cause. jennifer murray: yes, they say that slaves were treated well. what they have in a fitted from freedom, no. so is this a majority opinion, are you comfortable with her as a spokesman for the south and the loss cause? not comfortable with her conversation in 2015 but at the time is she radical? >> no. jennifer murray: no, she is a reflection of the time and representing continuity and how southerners dealt with justifying slavery, the paternal tendencies, the negro much worse off post 1855 then they were before. -- 1865 than they were before. she is creating a mythology, the lost utopia where southern

slaves were happy, well closed -- clothed, taken care of. we talked about this before, the notion of a happy slave, mammy in gone with the wind. does this fit with the loss cause? -- lost cause? absolutely. another example of disassociating slavery with the civil war, moving forward, the united daughters of the confederacy was very proactive in shaping this narrative. udc and southern women are responsible for reclaiming confederates from battlefields, the dead at gettysburg are

denied burial places at the national cemetery, because the civil war is still going on, so until the 1870's, the southern women go and collect the remains of their confederate dead. they bring them back home. they take them to richmond, virginia. >> so they were not buried in any way? jennifer murray: they are buried by comrades, often haphazardly. they might be put in a trench crave, laid in their -- there. there is thrown over them and the army leaves. now, a place like gettysburg, sharpsburg, people live there

so civilians going out to put crops and, -- in, they would see a constant reburial, dealing with the remains on their land. a complicated experience in the civil war. that is something that the udc does and they will undertake monument dedications. they will be proactive in creating southern history textbooks. we don't like our history to be politicized, but the union is active in doing so. so the udc raises money to facilitate direction of monuments, in southern towns maybe cemeteries, that is a

natural place for them. this is in wilmington, north carolina. this is a cemetery. then a larger image on the right is a confederate management -- monument in alabama. creating a lost cause, then a flurry of activity in richmond. why richmond? why? >> capital. jennifer murray: what is the famous place in richmond where all the monuments are? >> monument avenue. jennifer murray: who do find it there? >> stonewall, robert e lee. jennifer murray: jefferson davis , arthur ash, who has created

all sorts of controversy putting a tennis player there. this is a dedication for robert e lee in richmond. the loss cause -- lost cause, a psychological means to cope with defeat. you see the evolution of it in the latter part of the 19th century. it was a means to explain to fee, but then becomes why the south lost, what they died for then it transitions into something that is celebratory. and we start to celebrate the south. and we celebrate people like robert e lee, confederate soldiers. look at the image -- the monument itself is spectacular

but what strikes you about the picture? >> do we have a number on how many are there? jennifer murray: over 100,000 people they think attended the dedication of the monument. >> 100,000 people? jennifer murray: 100,000 spectators. who will be -- who will these kinds of activities make upset? >> the north. jennifer murray: right, this is response and reaction. the north is sitting there and thinking, you are putting up a monument to a man who committed treason. and the northern response to this is fantastic. here is an example.

1892, two years after the monument goes up. this is from minnesota. this is comrade kassel. what is he saying about the south? >> he likes to use the word treason. jennifer murray: putting up these monuments to their own band of traders -- traitors saying they are delusional. is this reconciliation? >> no. jennifer murray: no. so, i made a point, overstating reconciliation people believing into this. even in the south, this discussion is a lost -- is not a consensus, it is not 100% of

southerners that buy into the lost cause. the majority yes, but there is a sense in the new south about the war and these commemorative activities. for example, john singleton mosey. take a look at this quote. immediately, this should make you recoil. what is he doing or acknowledging? >> slavery. jennifer murray: he could not be any more explicit. the south went to war for slavery. then what does he say toward the end, does he get more bold or does he retract? >> he retracts. jennifer murray: in what way? >> he talks about it being for

his country, fighting for his country even though the values weren't there. >> may be from slavery, but not a retraction from the fact that he fought for the south. jennifer murray: and he is also said just in what in the middle of the quote? >> he is advocating the role of responsibility. jennifer murray: yes. so why nations choose to go to war, it is the response ability of whom? >> the politicians. jennifer murray: so he is fighting for what? >> his country. and it seems like robert e lee and his point of view, where my country goes i go. jennifer murray: right. john singleton mosby is a famous

confederate, he is dissenting from the concept of the lost cause. so if you read it some of his account, they are fantastic. some of his exchanges, he will actually admit that he committed treason. he does not backtrack or apologized for his service but he admits that it is an act of treason. >> individuals had to apply for a pardon right? applying for that pardon is an admission of guilt. you write on a piece of paper in order to -- jennifer murray: right. the peace terms at appomattox they are what? >> it was, go home and we will leave you alone.

jennifer murray: it was a very amicable, it did not require the south to admit -- exactly. they got to keep their stuff, horses, baggage. what does it say if we put this quote against mildred rutherford? which one wins in the competition for memory? >> rutherford. jennifer murray: and voices like mosby will be pushed to the side. who does that leave us with? the north is talking vividly about treason, the south creating a lost cause trying to cope and will disassociate slavery with the american civil war and we have one other tradition, emancipation.

so we will fit them into our narrative. you can imagine memories of the civil war being complex for african-americans. abraham lincoln issues the emancipation proclamation, that is in january 1863. emancipation happened at different times, depending on a variety of factors, when they get their freedom. but when the war is over, 4 million african-americans are free. life is different than it was. they talk about the old south and the new south, you see more

continuity in the new south van -- than change. i love this quote by frederick douglass. " if a war among white rot peace and liberty to blacks, what will peace among the whites bring?" reconstruction is 1865 and onward. what would you tell frederick douglas about this? >> very little. jennifer murray: he talks a lot about -- how does this fit into the narrative? booker t. washington is another example, how does -- what is their competition memories? >> the primary issue is how to

deal with memories of the south, among individual former slaves. while booker t. washington kind

rner born in stanton. wilson will come to gettysburg on july 4 to give a commemorative address. july 4, 1913. here is part of wilson's speech. what is your reaction to that? >> too good to be true. jennifer murray: in what way?

>> the fact he talks about how far they have come and they are this band of brothers and everything. essentially, it was all based around forgetting slavery and this awful part of their history together. jennifer murray: ok so he is fashioning this utopia sort of place. why is his tone going to be more evenhanded? >> he cannot risk being biased in any way at all because he is president. jennifer murray: ok, so politically he has to be couched in this. he has to be worried about political ramifications. who is his audience? both sides. when we said the north could be very verbose and descriptive talking about treason, their audience is northerners with the monuments and dedication speeches. wilson will be more calculated.

did woodrow wilson fight in the civil war? no, he is not a veteran. you find this sort of over-the-top with the reconciliation sentiment? battles long past, corals forgotten. manly devotion looking into each other's eyes smiling. >> you picture a group of southern african americans feeling we are still here and need help. i would assume there are not many there. jennifer murray: these people, right. they are left out completely of the narrative. they are left out of crafting civil war history in the memory of. absolutely. corals forgotten this is 1913. jim crow. that is wilson. when i gave you last time was from the governor of virginia

her lawyer -- remember william h . mann. he is the one sitting on the right to he is governor of virginia from 1910 until 1914. he serves in the civil war and is fighting with the 12th virginia. he is a young man but has service in virginia. i printed out the whole speech he gives in 1913 for you. the part to really drive down is what i have on the screen. what is he saying? >> [indiscernible] jennifer murray: not to discuss the cause of the war. which means let's not talk about slavery. this is what you would expect from a virginian and a member of the 12th virginia confederate veterans? absolutely. let's not talk about slavery.

instead, let's talk about the battle. let's talk about where the 11th virginia was. let's talk about the fighting on little round top and let's have conversations about strategies and generals and soldiers. let's not talk about causes and consequences. let's leave that narrative out. the iconic image of the 50th anniversary is this one. this is july 3, 1913. if the years earlier -- 50 years earlier is the final day of the battle of gettysburg. robert e lee and the confederate army and george meade and the union army have been fighting for two days and neither side has gained victory. the battle falls on the third day. robert e. lee believes his army is invincible and eager to gain success in pennsylvania on the third of july, he will assemble

13,000 confederate infantryman in a line that is a mile-long soldier to soldier. he preludes the assault with a big artillery bombardment. at 3:00 in the afternoon after the confederate artillery is quite, the 13,000 infantryman step across the field, open field, we have been there, we have walked this. remember how long it took us to get across the field? it is a mile from cemetery ridge to seminary ridge. what happens when the confederate soldiers get to the center of the union line? do they break it? no they hit the wall and are repulsed. this is the angle to be there focal point on july 3. at the end of the day on july 3 agency three, by 4:00 in the afternoon, the high tide of the confederacy receded.

they are falling back to cemetery ridge. robert e. lee will say 50% of the confederates who made the attack will be killed, wounded or captured. lee no longer able to fight in pennsylvania will decide on the fourth of july to start the retreat at the cost of 20,000 men killed, wounded, captured. that event he comes the iconic moment in which the union army pals against the tide of concession and confederacy. 50 years later, you have veterans from those regiments who marched across those fields 50 years earlier or the union veterans from who defended the fields. here they are shaking hands reconciling. in a nation united. iconic image of reconciliation. that is 1913.

that reconciliation scene continues. there is no deviation for the next 30 years, 1938, the next big iconic reunion. in between, i told you about changes in society and how they impact how we remember the civil war. i wanted to mention this before we go to 1938. popularizing the lost cause and the influence of film and popular culture. the image on the left is the packard for "birth of a nation." you are familiar with it, probably nominally. it is based on a series of books. the film comes out very much in step with the lost cause phenomenon. it victimizes the white south in the film.

you have this era of negro rule where freed african americans politically are subjugating the white south. who rises to defend the honor of the white south? the klan, the k.k.k. it is dramatized as being the heroes protecting virtuous white seven women subjugating african american rule. incredibly popular. woodrow wilson will watch this when it comes out taking comments about how true to history it is. the other one comes out after. this is "gone with the wind." you have probably seen bits and pieces of this. i know it is long. but very relevant in popularizing the lost cause. the theme is the faithful slave.

you have scarlet helpless damsel scarlet. she cannot even dress herself. and then you have the mammy the faithful, obedient slave. think about how slavery is popularized in "gone with the wind." this is an image that comes out in the 1930's. america is in the great depression. this image becomes firmly entrenched in american culture. does this reinforce the lost cause? absolutely. move forward to 1938. back to pennsylvania. 1938 is the 75th anniversary of the battle. the image i showed you in 1913, the iconic has across the wall, same idea. this is now 1938. by 1938, the veterans are fast fading.

there are just over 1500 of them present for the 75th anniversary and commemorative activities. but the theme of reconciliation continues to hold. in july of 1938 for the veterans they are and the spectators, the sons and daughters of civil war veterans by now, they come to commemorate the battle and create their own memories of the civil war. by now, the union veteran in the center, by now, gettysburg has become a national park. the national park service acquired gettysburg and the oval -- other civil war battlefields of put on the list -- i put on the list. the national park service acquires the sites in 1933. franklin d roosevelt will bring them into the department of the interior. now you have the government

fashioning civil war battlefields and they are moving forward with this theme of reconciliation. at the 75th anniversary of the battle one of the most iconic monuments on the gettysburg battlefield is dedicated. this is the eternal light peace memorial. you can sort of see the crowds, packed density. the speaker's platform is off to the bottom right. you can see it draped in flags. the non-veteran audience, these are sons and daughters of confederate veterans hear in gettysburg the president of the united states give a commemorative address. this is president franklin roosevelt. roosevelt will be on hand to dedicate the eternal light peace memorial on july 3, 1938. what is his dedication speech ringing of?

patriotism. patriotism of whom? america. this is more underscoring that point with roosevelt saying, and honoring the confederate veterans, we are going to do what? >> [indiscernible] jennifer murray: because they are all americans. if you look to the right of the obelisk, you see the two people unveiling the american flag. one is a union veteran and one is a confederate veteran. the inscription on the bottom of the monument, this is what it looks like today, the inscription says "peace eternal in a nation united."

reconciliation through the 20th century, still deliberately ignoring the war's causes and consequences. that gives us the 75 years. jump forward with me to 100 years, which takes us to the civil war centennial. this is where america has an opportunity to provide a fuller, more accurate civil war narrative. what is going on in the united states in the 1960's? the civil rights movement. some african americans say the civil rights movement is the second reconstruction. the reconstruction is the civil war's unfinished business, and the civil rights movement is an effort to bring political, economic, social, cultural freedom and equality to african americans that the civil war and reconstruction did not bring. this is an interesting example

where you can see the civil war centennial, 100 years celebration simultaneously occurring with social discourse in the american south where african americans are clamoring for equality. it is an opportunity for americans to provide a more full or narrative of the american civil war. gettysburg will be an opportunity to have that discussion. in the context of 100 years of civil war celebrations, the civil rights movement. think about the freedom writers -- riders in 1961. think about rosa parks, the bus boycott, civil disobedience taking place down south, the citizens occurring in public facilities throughout the south

starting in north carolina. all this is going on. the president at the time is john f. kennedy. the cold war is escalating. america is fighting communism abroad and social turmoil and discord within. in that context, americans are going to sit down and celebrate and commemorate the american civil war. do african americans have what lincoln promised them at gettysburg? do they have a new birth of freedom? no, it is into promises, promises left unfilled -- unfulfilled. so gettysburg becomes the iconic occurrence of the civil war centennial. the heritage syndrome, the michael caine expression, a deliberate ignoring of something that makes us uncomfortable. when you get amnesia, you forget things.

think about historical amnesia. you are just going to forget something you don't want to remember. in gettysburg, two weeks of activities will occur. some are purely celebratory like the big reenactment. other occurrences over the course of two weeks involve dedications of monuments this one. this is the state monument for georgia. when i mentioned gettysburg is the most monuments it of the civil war battlefields, there are over 1300 of them, the vast majority on the gettysburg battlefield are union monuments. remember driving up and down cemetery ridge. union monuments go up around the 25th anniversary of the battle. the south not wanting to commemorate defeat. gettysburg is in a union state. they start to put monuments at the centennial, the 1960's.

you will see confederate state monuments along seminary ridge. this one goes up in 1961, this is georgia. these are occasions where northerners and southerners will come to the gettysburg battlefield. they will dedicate or rededicate monuments, and then they blend civil war and its legacy with contemporary social, domestic, foreign policy and discord. an example. the first one is an extract from the union dedication of a monument. this is new jersey governor rededicate one of the union monuments on the battlefield in july 1963.

what is he doing in this setting? what is he encouraging americans to think about in 1963? >> equality. jennifer murray: slavery. >> the inequality that was left. jennifer murray: the war was not fought to preserve jim crow. it was fought to bring justice to all. he is encouraging americans to think about slavery, inequality the causes of the war, the unfulfilled promises. this is the contemporary event that parallels it. you see in the 19 city three celebratory event at the centennial americans are underscoring and acknowledging the unfulfilled promises of the american civil war and what it means to them in that generation. president john kennedy visits the gettysburg battlefield in the spring. march 31, he takes a tour of the

battlefield. this is 1963. this is kennedy. you see jack kennedy to the left. kennedy will be assassinated later that year in dallas, texas, in november. his vice president also visits gettysburg. lyndon johnson goes to gettysburg memorial day. lyndon johnson is from what state? texas, the lone star state. johnson has a very poignant memorial day speech. from johnson, this is may 30 1960's63 -- 1963. what is lyndon johnson doing? >> he is addressing the inequality of blacks in america even as a southerner from texas. jennifer murray: yes.

it is important to note where they are doing this. they are doing this on the gettysburg battlefield. how does the speech have more power at gettysburg than somewhere in texas or even d.c.? >> gettysburg was the biggest battle of the civil war and the civil war was fought over slavery, despite what everyone was saying about it. jennifer murray: yes, he is using the power of the place to make more meaning or more power behind his message. >> it is not only that. the previous speeches at gettysburg had nothing to do with it. they were specifically asking to not talk about anything like this. jennifer murray: what do we start to see with themes of commemoration? continuity or change? you are seeing a shift, a change. they are starting to talk about slavery and its association to the war. >> he made a direct connection to how it affects modern times too. jennifer murray: yes. i will show you another example of that.

my next slide, a good segue. does the united states want to look strong in the face of communism? what do not want to be brought to the fore? >> racial inequality, internal discord. this is the florida congressman making that exact point. integrate event paralleling civil war commemorative activities. l.b.j., texan, you see both sides, union and confederate northerners and southerners having this conversation about recognizing slavery's place in the civil war narrative. there is one exception to this. one of the delegates and political officials who will speak in gettysburg in july, 1963, is the governor of alabama. who is the governor of alabama in the 1960's? wallace, george wallace.

who is george wallace -- here is george wallace shaking hands with one of the reenactors. george wallace delivers speeches in which wallace says the civil war and the confederates were fighting for states rights. constitutional rights for states. wallace is not going to get involved in the realigning of the war narrative. think about the context. this is july, 1953. what has george wallace famously done before he travels to gettysburg? weeks earlier? >> [indiscernible] jennifer murray: this is george wallace. alabama has two big division i schools. you have the veteran of schools auburn. and then you have this unsavory sister school in tuscaloosa, the university of alabama. this is where george wallace is

standing at the schoolhouse doors of the university of alabama, physically define integration -- defying integration. this is the context that brings him to gettysburg. when the civil rights centennial fades come 1965, gettysburg showcases a different commemorative tradition in 1963 thank in 1938 or 1913. you don't have a dramatic shift in the general population's understanding. the lost cause mythology is still firmly ensconced even at the close of the centennial. historians and academics are starting to write more objectively and much more honestly about slavery's role.

but writ large, the lost cause is prominent. move forward one more commemorative year with me. these are the thoughts i want you to take away from today's lecture. move forward to today. latter part of the 20th century, early part of the 21st-century. reconciliation is still the dominant narrative. if you go to gettysburg in the 1960's, 1970's, early 1990's, you would find a narrative and a landscape that talks about soldiers generals, union and confederate soldiers and tactics and strategies. you will not find talk about reconstruction and its failure. 1990's, there is a lot of cultural volatility going on in the united states. this is the period of the

culture wars where we start to politicize our history. you have the big, controversial explosion about the preservation and presentation of the enola gay in the smithsonian, the plane that dropped the atomic weapons in japan in 1945. you start to see americans looking for a more objective and more accurate version of their history. they are going to look for the civil war to fill that objectivity and accurate in ness too. in the late 1990's, the national park service at gettysburg will start to include discussions of slavery in their civil war narrative this is the superintendent at the time. this is the 1995 speech he gives. the superintendent at the time has a phd in history.

he says they have ignored deliberately this concept of fixing any blame for the war talking about slavery as a cause. do you think this makes john latschar very popular? no. one of the interesting periods i got to research for the book was this exactly. this speech creates this milestone -- storm of controversy. sons of confederate veterans leave the opposition. they will write. other people will, too. they ask for his resignation. southerners say if you talk about slavery, your maligning our history. it is an offense to southern history, and offense to southern, confederate heritage,

dishonoring southern heritage. hugely controversial politically controversial. the federal government gets involved, because that makes everything better. they get involved in 2000. congress will direct civil war sites under federal control to start talking about slavery. all multimedia presentations federally controlled civil war sites will begin to talk about slavery. the national park service manages over 70 sites affiliated with the american civil war. state sites do this in their own way. it is the national park service leading this issue to the forefront. how do you think americans respond to this? do they stand up and applaud objectivity and historical interpretation? we finally won.

we are bringing the conversation to the conclusion, the culminating point of having slavery inserted into the civil war narrative. is this something we are going to feel good about? >> controversial. jennifer murray: very controversial. lost cause reigns strong. you will see people today with the same lost cause mentality who will adamantly agree or argue that slavery had nothing to do with the civil war. nothing. in the midst of this, this is 2000, in the midst of this gettysburg and the national park service and its partner, the gettysburg foundation, open a multimillion dollar, $105 million, new visitor center, the one we were in the summer. if you go through the visitor center today, you will start your interpretive experience walking through galleries set up in the context of the civil war.

you will see conversations about slavery, the discussion of secession, the old south. the move through fort sumter, 18 six he won, the gettysburg hour he. you go through the final two years of the war and in you get to interpretive discussions about reconstruction. and it's unfinished legacy. garrett russell was a prominent advocate for not talking about slavery at civil war battlefields. russell is from arkansas. the is the president of heritage pac, a political organization that promotes and preserves southern heritage. he is vehemently opposed to talking about slavery. battlefields are about honor, a cosmic stretch. when you start talking about slavery at civil war battlefields, what are you going against which has been our basic the we have followed since 18 623 -- 1853?

you are going against reconciliation. you get a more accurate picture of the civil war, but you are overturning consensus history and your overturning discussions of reconciliation in this new paradigm of understanding civil war history. it is very controversial. think about this today. 2015, we are currently celebrating or commemorating the sesquicentennial of the american civil war. the 150th anniversary of the american civil war. this april, april 9 2015, america will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the civil war appomattox. 150 years ago this april, robert e. lee surrenders to ulysses s grant at appomattox. this is an occasion for us today

relevant to where the civil war fits in canterbury society today. this is an occasion for us to see how we in 2015, the 21st century american, northerners and southerners choose to define its place in our culture and memory 150 years later. do you all have any questions about themes of civil war commemorations? any of these northern-southern african american dominant narratives or the evolution of civil war commemorative history and themes? next week, we will take a look at the creation of the new south and finish our conversations of african americans and their place in southern history. thank you all very much. have a fantastic week. i will see you on wednesday.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> join us each saturday evening for classroom lectures from across the country on different topics and eras of american history. lectures are also available as podcasts. visit our website or download them from itunes. >> monday night, the spectrum policy director on the importance of spectrum for the government and public. >> the last two administrations have both written presidential memorandum on spectrum. when i first started in spectrum management in 1979, i came out of the marine corps after being an artillery officer. i did not know anything about spectrum. most people i met and even those

i worked with did not understand much about spectrum. but now everybody realizes it is part of our daily lives. our devices completely rely on it, our ability to communicate and often do our jobs and stay in touch with our families. >> monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> up next, a discussion on naval navigation during the war of 1812. at the outset, the british royal navy was far more sophisticated than the american navy. we will hear about the tools that sailors on both sides of the conflict used to dominate the sea. the octagon house in washington, d.c., where the treaty of ghent was signed 200 years ago, hosted this event. it is about 25 minutes.