Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Contents of Hunley museum could be an issue
The State ^ | 27 October 2002 | JOHN MONK

Posted on 10/27/2002 1:41:51 PM PST by aomagrat

Choosing the content of a future Hunley museum could be controversial.

Supporters envision a building that celebrates Southern nobility; others worry the museum could become a shrine to the Confederacy.

To state Sen. Glenn McConnell, a key supporter, the Hunley embodies what is noble about the Confederate struggle.

Slavery -- to many a major element of the Civil War -- is not something McConnell dwells on. The Hunley's sailors were patriots, fighting for freedom, he says.

"Americans in the pursuit of freedom -- as they perceive it -- are always willing to put aside the element of fear and answer the call of duty. That's the story of America. It's the story of the Hunley. ‘.‘.‘. Those men ‘.‘.‘. were willing to put their lives on the line and go out and try to lift the siege on this city."

But many historians place the Hunley's mission -- sinking a Union ship blockading Charleston -- in a tragic context.

"It makes me sad to think so much Southern ingenuity, heroism and manhood was used by Confederate leaders to try to break up the Union and preserve slavery," said Charles Joyner, a historian at Coastal Carolina University.

Joyner noted the nation's largest Civil War museum is being planned for Richmond, Va.

In that museum, he said, various exhibits will tell the story from three points of view: the Confederacy's, the Union's and that of slaves. That presentation gives a healthy range of views, Joyner said.

State Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, acknowledged the scientific achievement of the Hunley, the first submarine to sink a warship.

But if taxpayer money is to go into the Hunley museum, Jackson said visitors should be told the reasons for the Union blockade and be given the slaves' point of view: that the 250,000 S.C. whites stood to lose their 400,000 slaves if they lost the war.

"The last thing the rest of the world needs is to regard South Carolina as the state where the Confederacy lives forever," said Jackson, whose S.C. slave ancestors were freed when the South lost the Civil War. "We don't need a shrine to the Confederacy."

McConnell, who heads the Hunley Commission, says no decision has been made yet about what the unbuilt Hunley museum will exhibit.

Many exhibits will be scientific in nature -- describing seafaring inventions or matters pertaining to underwater archaeology. Others will convey the emotion of the submarine experience, he said.

In any case, McConnell said, those responsible for exhibits will seek different opinions before making a decision.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: confederacy; confederate; hlhunley; hunley
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last
"We don't need a shrine to the Confederacy."

Translation: Any mention of the Confederacy in this museum and we'll boycott.

1 posted on 10/27/2002 1:41:51 PM PST by aomagrat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Colt .45; shuckmaster; stainlessbanner; billbears; doglot; sweetliberty; Constitution Day; ...

Dixie Ping!
2 posted on 10/27/2002 1:44:10 PM PST by aomagrat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
This is ridiculous. The PC-thugs want to rewrite history. While I disagree with some Southern sentiments about the war, this is pure history revision. The Hunley was the first submarine to successfully carry out an attack, and it was supporters of the Confederate States of America who created her - plain and simple.
3 posted on 10/27/2002 1:47:58 PM PST by Pyro7480
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
Ensign G. Hazeltine. Captains Clerk H. Muzzey. Quartermaster J. Williams. Coal Passer J. Welsch. Seaman T. Parker. Will any of those names be in your damned museum?
4 posted on 10/27/2002 1:50:14 PM PST by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
Why dont they just have A museum about THE DAMN SUBMARINE!
5 posted on 10/27/2002 2:02:36 PM PST by Husker24
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
I am sick and tired of the name of the South being run through the mud by revisionist hack historians like Joyner and the PC police
6 posted on 10/27/2002 2:05:50 PM PST by billbears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Non-Sequitur
Coal Passer J. Welsch

A "coal passer" in a human-powered submarine? Was he part of the Hunley's crew?

7 posted on 10/27/2002 2:07:47 PM PST by strela
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Non-Sequitur
It's not my museum.

I don't see how you could have a museum for the Hunley without having an exhibit on the USS Housatonic and her brave crew.

By your tone I take it you are against a museum for the Hunley. I reckon you would rather see it destroyed and removed from all history books.
8 posted on 10/27/2002 2:11:28 PM PST by aomagrat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: strela
No. The men I mentioned died on the Housatonic.
10 posted on 10/27/2002 2:12:32 PM PST by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
Not at all. I just assume that there wouldn't be any place for Yankees in it.
11 posted on 10/27/2002 2:13:55 PM PST by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Non-Sequitur
Why not? The men who died on the Housatonic were brave sailors. Of course they should be mentioned. Right along with the men of the Hunley
12 posted on 10/27/2002 2:20:29 PM PST by billbears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: billbears
We'll see. I was over on the Shuckmeister's chatroom, you know, the one where they were celebrating the people killed on 9/11, and on one thread was talking about that CSN lieutenant that they reburied down in Florida. They grudgingly mentioned that 'a few Yankees' were in attendance in a way that made it clear that they weren't welcome.
13 posted on 10/27/2002 2:30:27 PM PST by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
Ughhh. When will this nonsense stop? Here is an example of a very early Submarine- without the benefit of electricity or diesel power- the bravery of the men who submerged themselves in that Submarine should be honored.

I think it is well past time that we should take American Slavery into historical context. Since the "multi-culturists" who teach our children and inhabit the tatters of the "intellectual" Left today are so big at looking at other cultures why don't we do it honestly at the time of the Civil War? Let's look at the lives of the average Chinese peasent in 1860 and compare his living standard to that of an African American slave in Virginia? What would we find? Why not compare the standard of living of the average African tribesman in West Africa to the average slave in America? How about the quality of life as one of the members of the lowest caste in India to an African American slave?

Why don't we examine the fact that slavery was far more common throughout the world in 1860 than in America? This is not to say that slavery wasn't evil or wrong. But taken in historical context slavery in America was downright civilized compared to the rest of the world.

14 posted on 10/27/2002 2:46:12 PM PST by Burkeman1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dutch-Comfort
I would shudder to think of the conditions in an airtight submarine that small if anyone passed **anything**.
15 posted on 10/27/2002 2:58:02 PM PST by strela
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
My grandmother, who is still living, has told me plenty of stories about her Grandfather who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. He owned no slaves and wasn't fighting to preserve slavery per se. He was fighting to protect his homeland, the South.
16 posted on 10/27/2002 3:21:37 PM PST by ItisaReligionofPeace
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ItisaReligionofPeace
"He was fighting to protect his homeland, the South."

Indeed. If the truth be known, most southern people back then had no interest in slavery, unfair northern tariffs, or politics of any sort. But once the Northern soldiers began blockading and invading, Yes indeed, they were fighting to protect their homeland.

Lincoln should be vilified for what he did to Americans. A real leader would have found peaceful ways to resolve these problems.

17 posted on 10/27/2002 3:33:05 PM PST by Bob Mc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
"It makes me sad to think so much Southern ingenuity, heroism and manhood was used by Confederate leaders to try to break up the Union and preserve slavery," said Charles Joyner, a historian at Coastal Carolina University

By that statement some are very liberal about throwing around the title of "historian".

18 posted on 10/27/2002 4:56:19 PM PST by oyez
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aomagrat
"The last thing the rest of the world needs is to regard South Carolina as the state where the Confederacy lives forever," said Jackson

Too late, homefry - the CSA lives forever in the great state of South Carolina. No matter how much you boycott, no matter how much you change the story, no matter how many flags you try to remove, South Carolina was part of the Confederacy. That is history, that's a fact, and there's no changin' it!

19 posted on 10/27/2002 5:07:09 PM PST by stainlessbanner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bob Mc
A real leader would have found peaceful ways to resolve these problems.

What does that say for Jefferson Davis then, since he introduced armed conflict into the equation by firing on Sumter?

20 posted on 10/27/2002 5:26:53 PM PST by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson