Limited Maryland lawmakers demand removal of Lee statue

[ebg12]

Are you advocating that all Confederate symbols be removed, even those from National Parks established on battlefields such as Antietam? If this is your goal what will be the story of the “cleansed” version of the Civil War? The Union defeated the Unknowns?

I bear you no ill will but must tell you that I believe you cannot shape history to suit your preferences, besides we will lose our national identity if we attempt to massage history and make it change.
Regards
David

this is my position:

The South was fighting for slavery....not for the sake of the institution itself, but more because of the economics of cotton. If there was a way to be more profitable producing cotton without slavery...they would have done it.

It was the Daughters of the Confederacy that started the campaign of the "lost cause" changing the perspective of what the south was fighting for. It was the daughters of the Confederacy that lost their inheritance of being "Southern Bells", and losing all those "servants" to attend on them. It's like, they felt cheated. The campaign for memorializing the confederacy was extensive by them.

so, the statues we find in cities, not on the battlefield, are of a different mentality of admiration for a southern society of myth.

To remove Lee's statue from the battlefield of Antietam is wrong. You got to admit he was a great general. of any general, his statue belongs on the battlefield (he made Grant weep at the battle of the wilderness!)

He frustrated the Union command for 4 years.

but, political correctness is out of control, and like it or not...in 50 years his image and the confederate symbols will be gone from the cities and the battlefield.

I'm facing that reality

 

[UnionTitan]

Are you advocating that all Confederate symbols be removed, even those from National Parks established on battlefields such as Antietam? If this is your goal what will be the story of the “cleansed” version of the Civil War? The Union defeated the Unknowns?

I bear you no ill will but must tell you that I believe you cannot shape history to suit your preferences, besides we will lose our national identity if we attempt to massage history and make it change.
Regards
David

New member here. My opinion on the confederate monuments are that all of them on battlefields or in cementaries should be protected and respected. Those else where on public land should be kept or disposed of by the public or elected officials, If they are removed, they should be placed in museums so our children can continue to learn about our painful past without the edifying of men who fought against our country. I don't believe placing those statues in museums is destroying the past, rather it is putting the past in prospective. We fought a terrible war among ourselves, brave men on both sides, but thankfully (at least for me and my ancestors) the right side won.

 

[CCMDCSA]

that's a great idea! I can just express all my thoughts without rebuttal! thanks

I just had a great idea. It is obvious to me that ebg12 likes to stir up trouble and doesn't really want to discuss anything actually pertaining to the Civil War. Best thing is to ignore him and move on to something more productive. Too many other great threads on this forum where you can actually learn something about history and the Civil War. Anyone agree?

Agreed

 

[Patrick H]

Click bait, in my opinion.

 

[CCMDCSA]

that's a great idea! I can just express all my thoughts without rebuttal! thanks

There are alot of people in this group some of which i disagree with on different aspects of the civil war but overall seem like nice folks who share the same historical interests I do but I can honestly say your the first I have ran into who is intentionally disrespectful and annoying you wont last long and if you do you will be making posts that are ignored while you sit there giggling to yourself
Have a good one

 

[unionblue]

this is my position:

The South was fighting for slavery....not for the sake of the institution itself, but more because of the economics of cotton. If there was a way to be more profitable producing cotton without slavery...they would have done it.

It was the Daughters of the Confederacy that started the campaign of the "lost cause" changing the perspective of what the south was fighting for. It was the daughters of the Confederacy that lost their inheritance of being "Southern Bells", and losing all those "servants" to attend on them. It's like, they felt cheated. The campaign for memorializing the confederacy was extensive by them.

so, the statues we find in cities, not on the battlefield, are of a different mentality of admiration for a southern society of myth.

To remove Lee's statue from the battlefield of Antietam is wrong. You got to admit he was a great general. of any general, his statue belongs on the battlefield (he made Grant weep at the battle of the wilderness!)

He frustrated the Union command for 4 years.

but, political correctness is out of control, and like it or not...in 50 years his image and the confederate symbols will be gone from the cities and the battlefield.

I'm facing that reality

No, you're stirring that pot.

Question.

Why are you here on this forum? Why did you take the trouble to become a member?

 

[Sbc]

how quickly things change...typewriters are gone from the offices
malls are closing down
banking is done more and more by card and internet
eventually, soon, confederate monuments will also go.

Shelley wrote a little ditty named “Ozymandias”. It should humble every reader.
I’m resigned to the fact that these monuments along with all we know now will be so much forgotten history. That includes you and I.

 

[BarryR]

.in 50 years his image and the confederate symbols will be gone from the cities and the battlefield.
I'm facing that reality

Not here...Its on private property adjacnt to Interstate 4 and I-75....

 

[7thWisconsin]

If your previous posts were of the same calibre as that one, people wouldn't be talking about ignoring you . I don't live where the majority of these statues actually stand, and I kinda think the people who live there should have an influential say in the artwork in their community. But some of the questions I might be asking would be ones of context: 1) Why is this statue here? Did the famous person live here? Was born here? etc 2) Did this famous person do something significant in this area for which he or she should be remembered locally? 3) What was the intent of the artwork? and finally 4) How can we (the local people) better communicate the answers to these questions to the viewer? If an honest examination fils those points, maybe it's time for a change. Historically, though, all the way back to the Egyptians, pulling down or defacing artwork is seen as a feeble attempt to rewrite the past. That's why I'm cautious about it

 

[Ole Miss]

this is my position:

The South was fighting for slavery....not for the sake of the institution itself, but more because of the economics of cotton. If there was a way to be more profitable producing cotton without slavery...they would have done it.

I agree the South was facing political and financial pressure and they depended upon slavery for their livelihood. Slavery was a curse and Thomas Jefferson may have described the South's dilemma most accurately:
"there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would, to relieve us from this heavy reproach [slavery]...we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other."

It was the Daughters of the Confederacy that started the campaign of the "lost cause" changing the perspective of what the south was fighting for. It the daughters of the Confederacy that lost their inheritance of being "Southern Bells", and losing all those "servants" to attend on them. It's like, they felt cheated. The campaign for memorializing the confederacy was extensive by them.

I disagree that the "Lost Cause" was started by the United Daughters of the Confederacy but rather had its start with the founding of the Southern Historical Society created by Dabney H. Maury. Maury, a former Confederate Major General, endeavored to record the valor of the Southern soldier and the glory of the Confederacy. He established the The Southern Historical Society Papers in 1869 to provide a venue for ex-soldiers, politicians and historians to present the idealized picture of the South and her people.

The UDC was founded in 1894 to “protect, preserve and mark the places made historic by Confederate valor.”* They provided the energy, fund raising and the impetus to establish statues and memorials to Confederate soldiers, wives, politicians and communities. The UDC was also devoted to presenting the part played by the women of the South and to collect and save all the important papers of the Confederacy.

No where in any documents created by the UDC does it present or imply the ladies were attempting to recreate any aspect of the ante-bellum period or priviliges lost and they **** sure do not need to reclaim their inheritance as "Southern Bells"! A Lady knows if she is a "Southern Bells" or not as it is an attitude not dependent on where one lives. I know this as I am happily married to the real "Southern Bell"!

so, the statues we find in cities, not on the battlefield, are of a different mentality of admiration for a southern society of myth.

In today's politically correct atmosphere we are observing individuals, communities and governments demanding we remove monuments---Confederate and Christopher Columbus---in a forced attempt to remove all possibly offensive material possible regardless of the historical impact. These soldier statues were established in a different time when Confederate veterans were living and the United States was finally coming together as a Nation putting the War and the Reconstruction. The statues were established as cenotaphs as the majority of the Confederate soldiers died far from home and were buried in many mass graves. The families of the South did not have the funds to bring loved ones home so these monuments are the final grave stones for many a missing soldier.

Invariable each soldier monument has a dedication on one side along the lines of:
“Dedicated to the dead of Lafayette County, the valor of the soldier whose valor and devotion made many a battlefield glorious”
The ladies were not making racial statements of praises for slavery but simply honoring their fathers, sons and brothers, That was the motive behind the statues and memorials not praising or lamenting the passing of slavery. Context is everything.

To remove Lee's statue from the battlefield of Antietam is wrong. You got to admit he was a great general. of any general, his statue belongs on the battlefield (he made Grant weep at the battle of the wilderness!)

I agree

He frustrated the Union command for 4 years.

I agree

but, political correctness is out of control, and like it or not...in 50 years his image and the confederate symbols will be gone from the cities and the battlefield.

I'm facing that reality

I understand and agree we as a society are attempting to erase our history based on decisions by those who should not have the power to make sweeping changes without careful study and consideration of possible consequences.
I have enjoyed our discussion.
Regards
David
*https://hqudc.org/history-of-the-united-daughters-of-the-confederacy/

 

[MRB1863]

If we cut each topic from our Nation's History Books that someone somewhere decides is offensive; soon we will have no history. Perhaps this would keep the naysayers happy.

 

[thomas aagaard]

If we cut each topic from our Nation's History Books that someone somewhere decides is offensive; soon we will have no history. Perhaps this would keep the naysayers happy.

Each monument have its own history. This one was not put up until the 21st century.

So this is Not about if something is offensive, but about stopping a rich guy from making modern political propaganda on a civil war battlefield.