Recognizing both the parallels and distinctions between Nazis and Confederates helps students sharpen historical thinking skills: it pushes them to compare ideologies, social conditions, and power structures rather than treat each movement as an isolated “bad episode.” By examining where these regimes overlap, white-supremacist beliefs, propaganda, violent repression, and where they diverge, time period, economic base, geopolitical goals, learners see how racist and authoritarian systems adapt to different contexts. That insight fosters deeper civic vigilance: students are better able to identify recurring patterns of extremism, question nationalist myths, and appreciate why safeguarding democratic norms and human rights matters in every era.

There are many key similarities and differences. The two groups can’t be completely equated, but there are similarities. They are perhaps more like cousins than siblings.

You can copy this blank venn diagram and have students fill it out.