This book provides readers with an overview of how Americans have commemorated and remembered the Civil War.
The Civil War was one of the most divisive, dramatic, and deadly events in the course of American history. It involved not just northerners and southerners, but whites and blacks, women and men, and the elites, and the lower class. Not surprisingly, the ways in which this conflict is remembered and commemorated varies widely.
Most Americans are aware of statues or other outdoor art dedicated to the memory of the Civil War. Indeed, the erection of Civil War monuments permanently changed the landscape of U.S. public parks and cemeteries by the turn of the century. But monuments are only one way that the Civil War is memorialized.
This book describes the different ways in which Americans have publicly remembered their Civil War, from the immediate postwar era to the early 21st century. Each chapter covers a specific historical period. Within each chapter, the author highlights important individuals, groups, and social factors, helping readers to understand the process of memory. The author further notes the conflicting tensions between disparate groups as they sought to commemorate "their" war. An epilogue examines the present-day memory of the war and current debates and controversies.
• Presents events related to the commemoration of public memory of the Civil War chronologically, from 1865 to the present
• Illustrated with photographs of monuments, individuals, and events related to commemoration activities, as well as selected political cartoons related to Civil War memory from popular publications
• Bibliography includes both primary and secondary sources on the subject of Civil War memory
• Provides readers with a broad overview of an extremely popular topic in Civil War history in an easy-to-read, narrative form
• Summarizes the most recent scholarship on the subject into one volume
• Provides both in-depth critical analyses and clear summaries of the key themes
• The role of memory in shaping historical consciousness is a timely scholarly topic