The Civil War and, perhaps even more importantly, the postbellum struggle for social and political mastery had a profound impact upon the memory and identity of all southerners, whether black or white. It was key for the development of not only the Lost Cause and New South ideologies, but also sewed the seeds of twentieth-century black political activism.
Please post your discussion questions (for which as of 11:00 AM on Monday, I have not yet had anyone sign up!) below for Reading Assignment 1 (RA1).
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During the chapter several publications/journals were mentioned and used to describe the different views of the supposedly rising South. What impact, if any, did these publications and their authors have on the New South? In what ways did it affect the blacks who barely had a voice in this era and in what ways was it helpful?
ReplyDeleteWhat were some of methods used in securing the New South creed as an accepted ideology among white Northerners and Southerners? And was that ideology universally adopted among the North and South? If not, what were some of the contradictions or inconsistencies associated with the New South identity?
ReplyDeleteThe New South aimed to restore, above all, the self-confidence of a fallen people and especially that of its men. Defeated by the North, the South found itself temporarily robbed of its control and power over its fate. In attempting to recover this power, the South feigned submission to an easily-appeased North on the subject of reconciliation and sought impunity through economic advancement. Discuss the dichotomy of the Southern man who presented a rebuilt society glorified as the feminine counterpart to the masculine North while constantly asserting his power in his home by utterly disabling any real form of emancipation for his former slaves.
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