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."
Freedom-loving slaveowners, you mean.
Or in this case an uppity southroner mimicking disrespectful Yankee Speak...
Nah, it's a good patriotic song. However, when the band strikes up Dixie watch out for the stampede of Yankee lawyers running to cry to the ACLU because they're offended.
I reckon so.
Thanks, I do believe you are correct.
He did bring up an interesting point. In quite a few decades of reading American history, I’ve never read anything about slave exportation from the US, to the Caribbean, South America, or anywhere else.
Do you happen to know if exportation was prohibited when importation was banned? If not, I’m sure it must have occurred occasionally, but I’ve never once heard anything about it. I suspect it must have been quite rare, as “fresh meat” direct from Africa was undoubtedly always a good deal cheaper.
I’ve also not been able to find anything on the subject on the interwebs.
Since when does delivering an ultimatum to the U.S. qualify as wanting peace?
It was a rebellion.
Well for about 2/3rds of their population at any rate.
This is precisely where we disagree, and this may very well be the crux of the entire disagreement. Some folks believe states belong, as in being the property of, to the Union. Others, like yours truly, believe that states are members, as in being sovereign, of the Union.
And other people have read the dictionary, which defines rebellion as “open, armed, and usually unsuccessful defiance of an established government.” The confederate acts of unilateral secession were illegal. Their acts constituted a rebellion.
frankly, i'm surprised that you're willing to post to him, given his history of NOT caring that he is offensive to the ladies/children/religious people on these threads. he seems to regard the FR forum as the wall of a public toilet, upon which he feels free to scribble his filth, bigotry & nonsense. furthermore; he seems to know LITTLE about the WBTS period or anything else for that matter; instead, he is just an ignorant, loudmouthed, uncouth LOUT.
as for slave exportation, a few comments:
1. exportation was NOT ever prohibited by the USA,
2. "fresh meat from Africa" was cheaper, but NON-English speaking/untrained &
3. slaves who knew skilled trades, "house slaves" & comely young women/men were always in great demand wherever slavery remained lawful. (common laborers remained cheap in/out of the USA.)
fwiw, you HAVE to go to the library & "do some digging" to find this sort of information (you will NOT find this sort of information on the "worldwideweird" YET! = in 2-5 years, the Univ of Chicago will have their entire collection on the web. SIU is contemplating doing the same, as is Auburn.), as the DAMNyankee elitists (then/now) do NOT want their perfidy/LIES/misdeeds/hypocrisy uncovered/exposed to public view.
free dixie,sw
face it, N-S, "your side" was that of the OPPRESSORS;the southerners were the FREEDOM FIGHTERS, however much you may wish that the truth was otherwise.
free dixie,sw
Everyone knock off the personal attacks. Debate is one thing, attacking each other is not acceptable.
remember, the DYs imported/sold/traded/owned/exported slaves as long as they could make a PROFIT. decency & honor had NOTHING to do with their attitude/actions;PROFIT was ALL to them.
free dixie,sw
But you admit it was a rebellion?
(should you doubt this go to the Lake Corinth Cemetary in Corinth, MISS and look at the many gravestones and observe the gender and ages of the dead!- all but one was either female or under 10 years old- the family surname is BANKHEAD),as well as numerous cases of rape, robbery, arson and pillaging.The invitation to go to that cemetery and read what's on the graves is pretty funny, since Watie, by his own later confession, had never been there himself.
Post #104The women and children's tombstones from 1864 ALL read MURDERED BY YANKEES! 92 of them! the oldest was a woman age 92-the youngest a boychild who was 8 months old at the time of his death! all during the same 2-day period-an orgy of rape,robbery and murder!
Post #109
Doing some more digging, I find, on an archived Yahoo message boardthis message from Watie, dated 1999.
In the case of my mothers ancestors, the damnyankees slaughtered at least 40 of her CIVILIAN ancestors! there's a cemetary full of Bankheads and Knieffs in mt. corinth, MS, who were outright murdered by yankees between 1863-64. most were women and children <8years old!
Now this is very interesting. Not only is this version of the story change the cemetery from Lake Corinth to Mt. Corinth and give different dates, but this version concerns his mother's family, not his father's. And as anyone who follows Watie's writings knows, his claim to being an Indian is on his father's side, so the whole Yankee racist motivation that Watie's claimed in the past hasn't yet made an appearance in this version of the tale.
the FACT is that secession was/IS lawful, as that POWER was NEVER ceded to the central government by ANY state/group of states.
fyi, see the TENTH Amendment to the BOR & THEN come back tell us exactly WHERE/WHEN the RIGHT to leave the union voluntarily (on the STATE's OWN motion) was ceded to the "fedrule gubmint".
face it, N-S, your side was/IS the side of the OPPRESSOR. barack hussein obama & "hitlery rotten klintoon" are really NO different in philosophy than lincoln & "his merry band of thieves, thugs & war criminals". ONLY the century is different;the issues remain the same = LIBERTY vs. OPPRESSION.
free dixie,sw
You still haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about.
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