A Political Congressional Commission
What is it about the process of changing the names of Forts and removing other Confederate recognition from US Government property that bothers me so much? I have the same feeling when people on the right call each other patriots implying that if you do not think like them, you are not one. Some people even refer to themselves as patriots. The only thing worse is calling 19th century men traitors who, in situations we barely understand, decided to resign a commission, and go home to their states.
In the 1860s when Republicans called Northern democrats and Confederates traitors it was politics. It had to be. No one was tried or convicted. The same holds true today except that now it is being said about men who cannot defend themselves in real time. The truth is that these men were more capable, principled, and courageous than those who vilify them now. This is borne out in their own writing, speeches, and actions.
Southern leaders made many mistakes in the middle of the 19th century. The rashness of the secession of the first seven states and the underestimation of the central government’s willingness to use force are two. The biggest was that they acted as if honor meant the same thing in United States as it did in the South. Early indications like Grant’s intervention on behalf of Lee showed some promise, but as the years passed the victors extracted their vengeance.
By the early 20th century, the central government needed the South. She rose to the call and her son’s fought and died with other Americans. There was a spirit of reconciliation built on a growing mutual respect. President Calvin Coolidge put it well in his 1924 Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery.
“Our country can not exist on the renunciation of the heroic souls of the past.”
The Naming Commission includes people like Ty Seidule who think it is appropriate call Confederates traitors. It is depraved, political, and ahistorical. His actions reflect poorly on the commission and the country.
