Slavery/Confederates and the Culpable North

Pensacola Daughters of the Confederacy

Over the past several days, the conversations in the nation have tunned to long neglected feelings surrounding race in Trumpian America.  I have always felt that race is, and always was, the elephant in the collective American living room; a living room we all kind of sit around in looking at each other muttering to ourselves that there is something there that we just want to disappear.When Americans think about the Civil War and the reasons why it happened, many will tout the idea of "states' rights" or "agrarian economy v manufacturing economy". They are both pieces of the whole, but the overarching reason for the war was the existence of what many reconstructionist historians have called that "peculiar institution", involuntary servitude, in plain English, slavery.

In times past, those of us who were born and raised in the northern and western parts of the country have felt a bit smug and superior that this part of the nation was on the side of the angels and would shake our heads, suck our teeth and wag our collective finger at those Rebel Boys, those agents of Satan, who fought to keep all those people enslaved.

That never was the true picture. The truth is, as the Cubans would say, complecado.

African slaves were introduced to New Amsterdam in 1626 when eleven African slaves were brought into the colony.  In 1655 the first slave auction was held in New Amsterdam. By 1705 over 42% of New York households owned slaves; the second highest percentage of cities in the colonies, second only to Charleston. In 1711 a formal slave market was established at the end of Wall Street on the East River, and it operated until 1762. New York State, due to the work of the New York Manumission Society under the leadership of John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, gradually eliminated slavery, and by 1827, slavery no longer existed in the city or state.

But slavery still was part of the economic underpinning that fueled our city's economy. Brooks Brothers started their now high end clothing empire producing basic clothing for slave merchants. Back in the day, around 1850, 339 of the first 1,000 policies written by New York Life were on the lives of slaves. Brown Brothers Harriman, one of the largest private investment bankers in New York, was founded by William and James Brown who owned slaves, financed the cotton economy, and went on to establish Brown University, one of America's Ivy League schools.  And finally, Domino Sugar, that purveyor of all things sweet, was the Brooklyn company that packaged, promoted and pushed the use of white refined sugar that was picked and processed on the slave dependent-plantations of the South and the Caribbean. There are no heroes here.

Which brings us to the question at hand that we, as a nation, are currently wrestling with, what do we do with those monuments erected to the sacred memory of the fallen leaders of the Confederate States of America. And, since opinions are like noses, and everybody has one (thank you, Joan Filippone for this reference), there are many proposals floating around. So here are mine.

One of the things I do when I travel is have a theme for photos.  In Europe I take photos of World War I monuments.  In the Caribbean, I take photos of flowers and fauna.  In the Southern part of the United States I take pictures of Confederate War Memorials.

There are two distinct types of Civil War Monuments. One set is the formal horse and rider, sword rattling, hat raising leader a la Robert E. Lee or Stonewall Jackson. Theses are the official kind often in places like parks and courthouse plazas. They represent the idea that "the south will rise again", and were often erected during the era of Jim Crow and segregation to recall the past glory days, and enforce the laws that denied folks their civil rights. These need to be moved from places of prominence and into a local history museum or other place set aside for them to quietly reside. Remember, these military leaders were leading a rebellion against the United States of America and were technically traitors. Yes, most of them were not prosecuted as such due to the interjection of former Union officers who had studied with them at West Point, but the fact that they chose to betray their nation still remains true.

Greensborough, Confederate soldiers monument

The other set is a different matter.  These are often small town monuments to local young men who perished in the service of the Confederacy.  Many of these men were buried where they fell, and families had no grave where they could lay flowers and say prayers. The grief of the family was real, as real as the grief of a Northern family who suffered the same loss. These markers served that purpose and should remain, or be placed in local cemeteries.

So, there it is...just my humble opinion. You are also entitled to yours.