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How Southern socialites rewrote Civil War history

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The United Daughters of the Confederacy was a significant leader of the “Lost Cause,” a movement that revised history to look more favorably on the South after the American Civil War. Their work with local governments, education, and schoolchildren created a lasting memory of the Confederate cause, and those generations grew up to be the segregationists of the Jim Crow Era. Vox looks at how the UDC rewrote history.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Listen to the podcast Uncivil, which takes a look at stories left out of the official history of the Civil War, the story of slavery, confederate monuments, and racism in America.

Explore the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which examines the role and legacy of slavery in the United States.

History.com digs into how Confederate states, after losing the Civil War, began to alter the narrative of why they seceded and elevated Robert E. Lee as their hero. 

Learn more about the Cult of the Lost Cause, the push to create confederate monuments, and the former mayor of New Orleans’ reading list to better understand the real history behind the monuments, from the Smithsonian. 

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