The Lost Cause Thesis

“The Lost Cause”
The dictionary defines ‘lost cause’ as a defeated cause or a cause for which defeat is inevitable. After the Civil War “The Lost Cause” narrative depicted the unsuccessful movement to end slavery. While slavery was the main motivation of the South to participate in the Civil War, the Confederates dispute of the Union brought about a war in which the Northern and Western states fought to preserve the Union and the South fought to establish independence as a new confederation of stated under its own constitution. Southern whites to this day struggle to admit that the cause in which their ancestors fought in the Civil War in defense of slavery. The Southerners began to memorialize their failed cause when they established

the Confederate Memorial Day. The Confederacy lost and the narrative became a ‘one size fits all’ excuse as to why. This paper will show my opinion as to how the Civil War, despite the losses it helped pave the way for freedom and gave the Americans hope for the future.

Ashamed Confederate Generals
As a result of the war, the generals found themselves with no profession as their military career was abolished, some ultimately fled to foreign countries.

A few Southern leaders blamed each other, questioned unity and discipline and commitment to the Southern people. General Le, Johnson, Pickett, Grant and others chose to stay and face their fate and they knew that they should continue the conflict. Some states began to rebel and not acknowledge land deeds if that would happen today it would be a criminal offense. Grant rejected the Lost Cause argument that the South had simply been overwhelmed by numbers. Grant argued, “This is the way public opinion was made during the war and this is the way history is made now. We never overwhelmed the South ... What we won from the South we won by hard fighting.” (The Lost Cause. Civil War

Journeys.)

In the 1870’s the process of coming to terms with defeat entered a new phase. Jubal A. Early and a few other Confederate leaders organized the Southern Historical Society (SHS), which, through its publications and the other Southern writings endorsed, established certain “truths” about the Confederate cause: the South had not fought to preserve slavery; secession was a constitutional and justifiable response to Northern violations of the national compact; and Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson were perfect heroes whose very existence testified to Confederate nobility (Foster, 2002).
It is organizations like this that showed how the war was not a lost cause but a gateway to freedom.

Celebrations of generals and common soldiers began materializing in the latte 1880’s, this helped form and chose John B Gordon as its leader to commit to a reconciliation between the New South and the North. Annual reunions of the three groups, the Southern Historical Society, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans formed and primarily celebrated the sacrifice and heroism of the soldiers and honored the South. Sadly, as the veteran generation died off the Confederate reunions became less and less. Some Sons and Daughters organizations held on but as the ceremonies of the Lost Cause declined so did the interpretation of the war of the southern culture.
Grant rejected the Lost Cause argument that the South had simply been overwhelmed by numbers. Grant argued, “This is the way public opinion was made during the war and this is the way history is made now. We never overwhelmed the South ... What we won from the South we won by hard fighting.” (The Lost Cause. Civil War

Journeys.).

Arguing the Lost Cause definition
Some arguing that the white supremacy was the key characteristic of the Lost Cause narrative, then the people who supported the cause portray the Confederacy’s cause as noble and its leadership showed chivalry and honor but defeated by union armies because of the number of soldiers and the industrial force that overwhelmed the South’s military skill and courage. Followers of the Lost Cause movement were against the reconstruction following the Civil War saying that it was a deliberate attempt by the Northern politicians to destroy the traditional Southern way of life.

The Battle still continues
Although my introductory statement states that the Civil War helped to shape freedom for Americans, the animosity still exists between the North and South and whites and blacks. Some historians say we're still fighting over some of the same issues that fueled the Civil War. 'White privilege' and 'black rage' still exist today. Despite some important counter-examples, blacks still face the legacy of slavery in prejudice, reduced expectations, poverty, and barriers to advancement. There are still reenactments of the Civil War today and there are still remnants of buildings trails, and artifacts still around today that remind us of the time when our ancestors fought for freedom within the US. There are still accusations of racisms flying around our cultures daily. One of the first organizations created after the war in the South was the Ku Klux Klan, founded in 1865 by six white Confederate soldiers concerned about the racial implications of black freedom (Schultz, 2014). I am not sure it will ever end but I believe it has come a long way and this is thanks to the men who fought for freedom both white and black.