It's an interesting question, Mike, but I write about this time period, too, and I would strongly disagree with you that "slavery was totally eliminated." Under the odious Andrew Johnson, and for the next 100 years, slavery was reworked into a different form, through Jim Crow laws, grandfather clauses that virtually eliminated Black voting rights, the reigns of terror conducted by the KKK and other white supremacist organizations throughout the country, the loophole in the 13th Amendment that allowed and continues to this day to allow enslavement of a created prison class— I can go on, but you get the point.
Under Johnson, Confederate leaders and elite enslavers were pardoned (they just had to go to Washington DC and grovel to Johnson in person) and were elected right back into office. Their confiscated lands were taken from the newly freed enslaved and restored. There were devastating war losses on both sides but there was no punishment of the elite Confederates for their treachery.
This election has horribly demonstrated that all those factors are not only still at work, but rekindled with billionaires funding the fire.
So - did the Confederacy really lose? Really? I wonder...
Alexandra, I totally agree with you...I just didn't want to go down the Lost Cause trail in this piece. This was more about would they have done it if they knew they were going to kill and hurt that many of their people and legally end slavery which they were trying to protect. Yes we are still living with it...and I want to do a piece that draws the direct line from CSA to MAGA...and you just did a lot of it here. I started on a documentary a little over a year ago titled "Monumental Struggle" about Confederate monuments and focused on one in Easton MD. It's on the back burner right now because of fund raising issues...but here's the trailer.
Hey Mike - I'll check out your trailer and will be happy to amplify your CSA to MAGA post. The Lost Cause is such an insidious myth in US culture and exposing that narrative for the white supremacist fantasy it is will be hugely important work for us writers and filmmakers, going forward. Story is power. We need to wield it.
I don't think that I understood how really bad it was until Charlottesville. I knew it was an issue, but I had no idea how deep it was. This Easton MD, Talbot Boys thing fell out of the sky from a friend when I was trying to figure out how to approach this.
It's an interesting question, Mike, but I write about this time period, too, and I would strongly disagree with you that "slavery was totally eliminated." Under the odious Andrew Johnson, and for the next 100 years, slavery was reworked into a different form, through Jim Crow laws, grandfather clauses that virtually eliminated Black voting rights, the reigns of terror conducted by the KKK and other white supremacist organizations throughout the country, the loophole in the 13th Amendment that allowed and continues to this day to allow enslavement of a created prison class— I can go on, but you get the point.
Under Johnson, Confederate leaders and elite enslavers were pardoned (they just had to go to Washington DC and grovel to Johnson in person) and were elected right back into office. Their confiscated lands were taken from the newly freed enslaved and restored. There were devastating war losses on both sides but there was no punishment of the elite Confederates for their treachery.
This election has horribly demonstrated that all those factors are not only still at work, but rekindled with billionaires funding the fire.
So - did the Confederacy really lose? Really? I wonder...
Alexandra, I totally agree with you...I just didn't want to go down the Lost Cause trail in this piece. This was more about would they have done it if they knew they were going to kill and hurt that many of their people and legally end slavery which they were trying to protect. Yes we are still living with it...and I want to do a piece that draws the direct line from CSA to MAGA...and you just did a lot of it here. I started on a documentary a little over a year ago titled "Monumental Struggle" about Confederate monuments and focused on one in Easton MD. It's on the back burner right now because of fund raising issues...but here's the trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqXszErj7s&t=42s
Hey Mike - I'll check out your trailer and will be happy to amplify your CSA to MAGA post. The Lost Cause is such an insidious myth in US culture and exposing that narrative for the white supremacist fantasy it is will be hugely important work for us writers and filmmakers, going forward. Story is power. We need to wield it.
I don't think that I understood how really bad it was until Charlottesville. I knew it was an issue, but I had no idea how deep it was. This Easton MD, Talbot Boys thing fell out of the sky from a friend when I was trying to figure out how to approach this.
Still looking forward to seeing the completed version.
Funding has been the issue with this. It's a long story. From the feedback I was getting I thought it was a slam dunk...and then it evaporated.