Posted on 03/28/2008 12:15:10 PM PDT by cowboyway
Over the last few months, celebrations for Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday have drawn attention to the Kentucky native's life and his legacy as president. But the 200-year anniversary of another Kentucky president's birth, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, is receiving mixed reviews.
"I'll say it this way - winners write history," said Ron Bryant, a Lexington historian writing a book on Davis. "We need heroes, we need villains. Lincoln became a hero and Davis a villain."
Davis was born in what is now Todd County, Ky., in 1808, one year before Lincoln. Davis served as the only president of the 11 southern states that seceded from the Union between 1861 and 1865. The Confederate States of America surrendered in 1865, and Davis was locked in prison the same year.
Despite being denounced by many civil rights groups, signs of Davis' legacy can still be found throughout the state.
In Southwest Kentucky, a structure resembling the Washington Monument stands in memory of Davis. At 351 feet tall, the Jefferson Davis Monument is the fourth largest freestanding obelisk in the world, according to Kentucky State Parks.
Although Kentucky never seceded from the Union, a statue of Davis stands in the rotunda in the state's Capitol building.
"The Civil War is still very much alive in many places," said Cliff Howard, a Jefferson Davis impersonator. "Kentucky was on both sides of the fence. It still is."
Having heard of Kentucky's reputation for "being a little backward," integrated strategic communications senior James Davidson Jr. was not surprised about Davis' statue in the Capitol building.
Davidson, first-vice president of UK's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said a statue of Davis leaves a bad impression.
"What is Frankfort saying to the rest of Kentucky with it being there?" Davidson said. "I respect everyone's heritage and Southern tradition, but given the history, I think it shouldn't be there."
The statue of Davis, installed in 1936, is one of five statues in the Capitol building. Lincoln is the largest in the center, and Davis stands in the corner behind his right shoulder. Former Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay, physician and drafter of the state constitution Ephraim McDowell and former Vice President Alben Barkley also stand in the rotunda.
The last time Davis' statue came into debate was 2003, when a coalition of African-American groups protested its presence in the Capitol building. A state advisory committee left the issue up to former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who took no action during his term.
Gov. Steve Beshear does not plan to remove the statue because Davis is a historical figure who represents part of Kentucky's cultural history, a spokeswoman said.
Student Government President Nick Phelps said his feelings on the statue in the Capitol building resembled how he felt during a controversy two years ago about a 46-foot mural in Memorial Hall depicting the history of Lexington and its surrounding area. The mural, which some said stereotyped American Indians and blacks, was not removed.
"I was not in support of removing the mural, so I would not support removing Jefferson Davis," Phelps said. "I don't think we should remove history. I think it removes the question, 'Who is he?' "
Many students might ask the same question about Davis.
In Kentucky, the Civil War is part of the middle school curriculum. Unless students take an advanced placement history course in high school, that's usually the last time they focus on 19th century American history, said Nayasha Owens-Morton, a U.S. history and African-American history teacher at Bryan Station Traditional High School.
William Campbell has taught a class on Lincoln at UK for about 10 years as an English and honors professor. Students going into his class know little about the confederate president, he said.
"About Jefferson Davis, Kentuckians tend to know that he was from our state, that there's a memorial dedicated to him somewhere in the state, and that he was the president of the Confederacy," Campbell said. "Of Lincoln's writings, most have read only the Gettysburg Address. Of Davis's writings, most have read nothing."
Well, keep on then.
Your opinion means about as much to me as any other damnyankee.
Preserving the Union. How violent.
What you missed in that timeline was May 9, 1861, the date that Virginia was admitted to the confederacy. Had the referendum gone against secession then what? Do you suppose they would have asked to be let out? </sarcasm>
Then why was Virginia admitted as a state in the confederacy on May 9?
So...you're saying that Sumter attacked the confederate fortifications in Charleston and not the other way around?
It was a Lincoln packed SCOTUS, led by Chief Justice Salmon Chase (Lincoln's Treasury Secretary and long time hater of Southerners, who should have recused himself) that legislated from the bench, a method that conservatives usually abhor.
Yes, yes, yes, the grand old Southron whine "It was a packed court..." Well the same member of that court who wrote the majority opinion in Texas v. White also advocated the opinion that led to your boy Jeff Davis avoiding trial for treason. How can he be right in one area not in the other?
The above would suggest that the court allowed the possibility of divisibility of the union.
I read the same thing into the decision that you do, and that Madison stated. Secession is not illegal if done in a constitutional manner. And that manner is with the consent of the other states, or at least a majority of them. The Southern states did not follow this course, they walked out without discussion.
He ordered the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the waging of war on noncombatants (Shermans march)...
ROTFLMAO!!!!
Rewriting history and subscribing to the rewritten version can be just like that.
Which makes reasoning with these individuals virtually impossible.
The only thing I can hope to accomplish out of these threads is to educate people that only know the sound bite offering of the rewritten version so they will understand that some of their public school education has had a thorough sprinkling of propaganda.
Exactly. Not about slavery, as advertised.
How violent.
600,000 plus dead. Thousands of women, children and the elderly left homeless and destitute. Economic ruin. Thousands of square miles ruined. 11 states under military occupation and subject to the exploitation of human vultures swooping down from the north. The Constitution ignored and a powerful, centralized federal government ruling the people.
And all for the political ambitions of disHonest Abe.
Ho-hum, just another walk in the park for a damnyankee.
The south lost and thus the slaves were freed.
Get over it.
The south lost and thus the slaves were freed.
Get over it.
Right? They weren't right in either case. In both cases they acted out of political expediency to muffle the truth.
ROTFLMAO!!!!
600,000 plus dead is a joke? You're a very sick man.
Right? They weren't right in either case. In both cases they acted out of political expediency to muffle the truth.
ROTFLMAO!!!!
600,000 plus dead is a joke? You're a very sick man.
Right? They weren't right in either case. In both cases they acted out of political expediency to muffle the truth.
ROTFLMAO!!!!
600,000 plus dead is a joke? You're a very sick man.
Get lost.
That’s not a good start.
Then you're saying Davis should have been tried for treason? I agree with that. But I also think that Chase was right on the money in Texas v. White. It's in line with Madison's thinking on the subject.
600,000 plus dead is a joke? You're a very sick man.
Hardly. I was laughing at the "...(Lincoln)ordered the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the waging of war on noncombatants..." part.
In the immortal words of Don Henly (who could have been speaking of the Southron contingent):
"You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down
You bitch about the present and blame it on the past
I'd like to find your inner child and kick it's little ass
Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit
Get over it, get over it"
Correct. From the Southern side it was all about slavery. From the Northern side it was not.
600,000 plus dead. Thousands of women, children and the elderly left homeless and destitute. Economic ruin. Thousands of square miles ruined. 11 states under military occupation and subject to the exploitation of human vultures swooping down from the north. The Constitution ignored and a powerful, centralized federal government ruling the people.
Let that be a lesson to you then. Do not start a war unless you're willing to live with the consequences.
Then bring something besides that tired old 'get over it' line.
He was indicted for treason by a US court for the district of Virginia. He should have received a fair trial under the US Constitution in which he would have been acquitted.
The nolle prosequi entered by the government in his case is a clear admission that they couldn't successfully convict him of treason, a de facto acquittal.
I was laughing at the "...(Lincoln)ordered the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and the waging of war on noncombatants..." part.
Was he or was he not the Commander in Chief.
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