You learn something new every day. In recent weeks, we’ve ‘learned’ new things about the Civil War that weren’t taught in school… that it wasn’t about slavery, that it was about States’ Rights, and that if we would have just tried we could have compromised our way out of it. Wow!
If your understanding of the Civil War is limited to your 8th-grade Civics class, you might be in a poor position to know why these ‘facts’ are wrong. Amid cries to “preserve history”, the actual history of our country’s bloodiest struggle can and is being whitewashed to suit modern political expediency. We’re not alone in believing knowledge is power, so to help us all become more powerful this month we offer suggestions from Atlantic contributor Ta-Nehisi Coates to make us all a little less stupid… ie: much more powerful.
“5 Books to Make You Less Stupid About The Civil War”
Article by Ta-Nehisi Coates
(from the article…) For the past 50 years, some of this country’s most celebrated historians have taken up the task of making Americans less stupid about the Civil War. These historians have been more effective than generally realized. It’s worth remembering that General Kelly’s remarks, which were greeted with mass howls of protests, reflected the way much of this country’s stupid-ass intellectual class once understood the Civil War. I do not contend that this improved history has solved everything. But it is a ray of light cutting through the gloom of stupid. You should run to that light. Embrace it. Bathe in it. Become it.
Okay, maybe that’s too far. Let’s start with just being less stupid.
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
Grant by Ron Chernow
Reading the Man: A portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Letters by Elizabeth Pryor
Out of the House of Bondage- Transformation of the Plantation Household by Thavolia Glymph
Life & Times of Frederick Douglass His Early Life as a Slave His Escape from Bondage & His Complete History by Frederick Douglass
