Myth of the Lost Cause (2/20)

After the Civil War individuals in the South started pushing a narrative that romanticized the efforts of the Confederacy. This narrative shaped the views of the public on the war and the South.

Key arguments of the myth 

• Leadership Leaders of the south were heroic and honorable (Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson) 
• States Rights – The South was fighting over states’ rights and not primarily to preserve slavery
• Blame on Reconstruction: Post-war Reconstruction is depicted as a period of Northern aggression and exploitation, further victimizing the South and imposing unjust policies on the defeated region.

The lost cause impacted how the civil war has been taught and understood across the United States. There are monuments and memorials throughout the South that were built in the 19th and 20th centuries.