A Weak Attempt at Justification

The Naming Commission had a difficult task with the Preface of the report. They needed to justify the decision to change the names of forts in the South and make it appear a reasonable thing to do. The truth is that 30% of the population would support it no matter the justification. Likewise, for 30% of the population no justification would suffice. The Preface appears to be aimed at the middle 40%.

To justify the change, it seems they tried to do two things:

• Claim that Southerners fought the war to “perpetuate” slavery.
• Show that “the South and much of the nation came to live under a mistaken understanding of the Civil War known as the ‘Lost Cause’.”

A previous essay dealt with the lie that the South fought to perpetuate slavery.

The Naming Commission Report links the original naming of the forts with something known as the “Lost Cause”, but they do not define it other than to say it is a “mistaken understanding”. Why do they not define it? The answer is that many reasonable people see truth in what they call the Lost Cause. What is seen as the Lost Cause today was the “history” of the war until recently. Here are the main items that are usually associated with the Lost Cause myth:

• A major reason for the South losing was that the North had had more resources and population.
• Men like Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson were great and had attributes to admire.
• There were slaves and other blacks in the South who were loyal to the South.
• The South did not fight to preserve slavery.

The Naming Commission did not define it because it is difficult to show these things are false and as such a myth. The commission is hoping that “Lost Cause” in scare quotes will be enough. They are counting on presentism winning the day and are applying 2022 values to the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. Careful though. In 100 years, people can question why Fort Eisenhower is named for a man who admired Robert E. Lee and led a racially segregated army.