Perceptions of the Civil War have changed, to be polite, several times since the war. What was thought to be a valid portrayal of the period in films such as THE BIRTH OF A NATION or even GONE WITH THE WIND are now seen as hokum. The first side to change the reality of the South after the war were "The Lost Causers". To find a meaning in the deaths and horrors faced by the losing side stories emphasizing honor, duty and loyalty replaced stories of defeat.

 

One of the leaders of this hallucination was a Preacher, J. William Jones even incorporated the names of Confederate leaders in his prayers! A consequence of the brutal march to the sea of General Sherman it took over 100 years to understand. If you attack or bomb people, it rallies them. The South would unite just as we united after 911, just as the British united in World War 2. The consequence in the South was that the South united as a group for over 75 years and managed to win in a very dark way, the reconstruction. One party rule became the reality of the South.

 

Find out more about the "Lost Cause" phase of the Reconstruction here: