Distancing from the Confederacy
In the year of 1865 the American Civil War ended. On one side they fought for the destruction of slavery and for the other side they fought for preservation of slavery. The war between the United States of America vs. the Confederate States of America was the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history with more American deaths than any other war the Americans were involved with. The War ended with a U.S. victory and the dissolving of the Confederacy. During the Civil War the Confederacy created many monuments about themselves. Many forts, boats, towns and even roads were named after Confederate figures or heroes that is what they were thought of back in the days of the Confederacy. After the war the monuments were usually left alone by the U.S.A. and in the 21st century many of these monuments still remain in many Southern U.S. states.
The Confederacy was a failed nation long before the U.S. won the Civil War. The Confederacy surrounded themselves with the idea of one race being the dominant race and the other race being built to serve them. Slavery which was, and still is a major problem in the world had corrupted many of those in the Confederacy, and they wanted to keep the idea of Slavery around for future generations. The monuments built during the time of the Civil War shows those fighting for, and not against slavery. Many people have had enough of those monuments reminding us of the dark past during the time of the Civil War. The monuments are usually in very public areas where people can see them every day. People living in those certain areas get tired of the dark past of these monuments and statues and what they mean.
In the time of anti hate against Black lives many Confederate Statues and Monuments have been removed from parks and other places. People have debated on if they should stay or if they should be destroyed. Many people really hate the message of the Monuments and destroying them is the only way to truly move on from the Civil War and the Confederacy. While others wanted them to stay telling others that these Monuments and statues remind us of the past and showing us history and the failures of the Confederacy. Different people have different opinions on the Monuments. Other Confederate symbols like flags and apparel are being targeted by those who show great hate towards the meaning of those flags and apparel. Just recently the state of Mississippi changed their state flag. The previous state flag had a Confederate battle flag in the top left and many throughout the years had hated the flag begging for the removal of the Flag entirely. The previous flag has been around for 126 years with the Confederate emblem on it showing us previous states who have been a part of the failed nation of the Confederate States of America.
Many people have different opinions on the topic of the Confederacy still having a presence in the present day. One student, a junior, said “The Confederate statues have been around telling us how and why they failed against the Union and getting rid of that will give us a world where we can’t reflect on the past.” The argument he stated is incredible because he brought up the history and the history to be learned from them. People can reflect on the past to move on in the present and be better. Without knowing about our mistakes and just cutting it out of our lives people will just forget the valuable lesson from that mistake. The monuments show us our mistakes, and humans can’t destroy mistakes even though people really try to. Mistakes are the trials that we must overcome to become a better person and even a better country.
My Grandfather had an opinion of his own. He has been in this country for a long time and has visited the Southern states and seen many things there. He has his own opinion on the matter, and he said “I think that the reminders of the past still linger here, and we are so eager to get rid of them that we don’t see why they stayed there for as long as they did, it is a reminder of that America isn’t perfect, but we can still try to make it better.” His opinion is very different from others because he knows the hate behind the statues and the horrible meaning of them, but he knows that the reminders of the past makes us better in the future. The past is filled with horrible doings and if people remove it from ourselves it isn’t going to change what happened back then during the Civil War.
Another student had one opinion which was incredible to hear. He is a senior and doesn’t like the monuments being there and how removing them is the only way to move on from the hate. His opinion was very interesting. He said “The days of the past are still here in the present and those Monuments have been a dark reminder that should be destroyed, so citizens can finally move on from hate and unite Americans in this country. This was fascinating to hear because it showed that not everyone likes the past and to destroy the past or reminders of it will bring us closer as people in this nation. This was very eye-opening and to see his opinion really stand out in a way was good to know.
In conclusion the matters of the past and its monuments and its other reminders will still linger on for the rest of U.S. history. The monuments are a dark reminder of hate and conflict with each other. Many want the dark reminders of the past gone while others want them to stay to remind us of how through dark times we can find unity with each other. The two sides both bring up great points, and they are both very convincing. One thing people can agree on is that the Confederacy failed and with that collapse of the Confederate States of America we found peace and a new road to unity in the future.
