Confederate Monuments and their Impact on the Collective Memory of the South and the North

Abstract

The end of the United States' Civil War saw the creation of a Confederate-created mythology. This mythology, referred to as the "Lost Cause," detailed the antebellum period of the South and the South's role in the war which was contrary to the actual events. For example, the Lost Cause maintained that the war was fought over states' rights instead of slavery and that slavery was a beneficial environment for the enslaved. Viewing the Lost Cause through the lens of a (Confederate) Southern collective memory, this literature review examines how monuments have buttressed the Lost Cause for more than a century. Building on this examination, the review suggests that monuments were a factor in the virus-like transmission of the Lost Cause to the former Union states. While there are few Confederate monuments in the North, they may be found in Southern tourist areas visited by Northerners. For example, the battlefields of large Civil War engagements are now national parks. This means millions of Northerners are exposed to Confederate monuments, and the exposure occurs in areas understood to be historical. In other words, Northerners take back a mythological and Confederate view of their country.