It’s not uncommon to hear claims that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery. People often say, “Learn your history!” yet when asked what the war was actually about, they typically respond with vague terms like “states’ rights,” “money,” or “northern aggression.” However, the Secession Papers from the Southern states clearly articulate that the desire to maintain slavery was the primary motivation for secession. With such accessible evidence, it’s perplexing why these misconceptions persist.
A 2011 Pew study revealed that nearly half of respondents believed the Civil War was primarily about “states’ rights,” while only 38% acknowledged slavery as the main issue. This begs the question: where does the narrative that the war “wasn’t about slavery” originate?
A significant player in this distortion of history is the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). Founded in 1894, this organization aimed to create a more favorable perception of those who fought for the Confederacy, effectively downplaying their role in upholding slavery.
Who are the United Daughters of the Confederacy?
The UDC promotes itself as “the oldest patriotic lineage organization in the country.” Their stated goals include honoring Confederate soldiers, preserving historic sites, and collecting materials for an accurate history of the Civil War. However, their actions suggest a more biased agenda; they have been instrumental in erecting and defending Confederate monuments, often claiming to merely preserve history while overlooking the inherent issues with glorifying those who fought to maintain slavery.
The UDC’s Historical Rewrite
The UDC is notorious for placing hundreds of Confederate statues across the South and defending these monuments when their racist implications were called into question. Their influence extends beyond mere statues; they have significantly impacted the content of school textbooks and history curricula throughout the region.
In the early 1900s, the UDC placed numerous Confederate flags and portraits in public schools and organized essay contests on controversial topics like “The Origin of the Ku Klux Klan.” The Rutherford Committee of 1919, led by prominent UDC member and white supremacist Mildred Rutherford, produced a pamphlet that explicitly rejected textbooks claiming the war was fought to uphold slavery.
This pamphlet, along with Rutherford’s book Truths of History, propagated the idea that the South was wronged by the North, effectively rewriting the narrative surrounding the Civil War. For decades, the UDC lobbied to fill Southern schools with textbooks that ignored or distorted the truth about the war’s causes.
For example, a North Carolina textbook used from 1911 into the 1940s offered overly simplistic and misleading descriptions of slavery, suggesting that slaves were generally well-treated and benefited from their circumstances.
The Contemporary Relevance
Today, a significant portion of the American public still believes that the Civil War was fought over vague concepts like “states’ rights.” This misunderstanding perpetuates harmful myths about slavery, the KKK, and the Civil War itself. Over the years, nearly 70 million children in the South were exposed to these distorted narratives, particularly during the Jim Crow era.
These entrenched beliefs can lead to a dismissive attitude towards discussions on systemic racism and social justice. When individuals believe that their forebears were victims rather than aggressors, it shapes their reactions to contemporary issues, including police violence against unarmed Black individuals.
Beliefs are powerful. The UDC, while its influence may have diminished, continues to exist today and still promotes misleading narratives. It’s crucial to recognize the damaging legacy of this organization and move forward by embracing a more accurate history.
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Summary:
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) have played a pivotal role in shaping a distorted view of Civil War history, promoting the false narrative that it was primarily about states’ rights rather than slavery. Their influence on education and public perception has contributed to ongoing misconceptions that persist today, affecting societal attitudes toward racism and historical accountability.
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