Bethany’s Top Five Mythic Works about the Confederacy
by Ernie on 10/08/10 at 11:56 am
Confederate History Month has been declared! It’s in April. There seems to be a growing trend to celebrate this holiday, and it is becoming more controversial, too. But I say let’s take a look at some of the great and glorious achievements of the Confederacy, and judge for ourselves whether or not it’s a good idea.
So first of all, let’s start with some of the most iconic fictional accounts of the confederacy:
5. Roots by Alex Haley (1976)
Based on a true story, it’s the tale of the ancestors of author Alex Haley, who traces his family back to the days before they were captured, enslaved, and transported to the American South. A great account of life in the glory days of the Confederacy
4. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884)
Huck and his enslaved companion Jim loved the south so much that they decided to sail down the Mississippi River. They had many great adventures and were couldn’t wait to go downriver!
3. Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)
A moving account of living in a slave state and being a slave.
2. Birth of a Nation (The Clansman), directed by D.W. Griffith, 1915, based on Thomas Dixon’s novel and play The Clansman.
About the brave and noble souls who answered the call and started the Ku Klux Klan!
1. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
The ne plus ultra of southern glorification. The title itself tells of the tragedy of the loss of southern glamor.
For more on the topic, read Tony Horwitz’s excellent 1998 book Confederates in the Attic.
