Monday, March 29, 2010

The Butler Opens the Door

We spent time in Richmond, VA today in order to see some Civil War sites. Wayne has an interest in aspects of the war: the pathos, the battles, personalities, and Lincoln to name a few. We started with the American Civil War Center at Tredegar. Tredegar was a gun foundry. We, first of all, had to share the Center with a group of Middle School students who ran, yelled and banged on everything. Yes, it was yet another focused, well-planned field trip where students were required to analyze, deduce, theorize and report back on the experience. But, beyond the chaos of the day was the astounding presentation of the war. No wonder many Southerners are still fighting this War. Without doubt, the Center presented slavery as a secondary (or tertiary) cause of the war. According to the Center, it seems that tariffs and Kansas along with states' rights were the primary cause. Whatever the chain of events truly were, they push the fact that slavery was not all that bad and the evil Union hell bent on taking away their God given right to own and sell people. Perhaps this continuous propaganda is what nurtures the vitriol that continues today.

Then we went to the Confederate White House. The tour guide taught us that Davis' "butler" would greet guests in the foyer and his "maids" took care of the household. Finally, someone asked if slaves were in the house. Her reply, "Both slaves and free servants. And even the slaves had their own house which was quite a perk for their job." Job? Really? Talk about denial. So glad I moved north.