Jordan Rogers

HIS 332
Mr. Carey
January 31, 2014

The Search for Central Themes in Southern History

The South can be looked at in many different ways and with many different themes. In
the readings the authors mentioned some of The Themes in the South, but they can all be
interpreted differently. But the main theme that comes across from all of the authors is that after
the Civil War the white people were the ones hurting because their heritage was no more, and the
black people were still pushed to the side and treated as if they were not affected by the war. In
these five readings each author refers to how this one theme defined their whole region.
In the first article, The Central Themes of Southern History, by Ulrich Phillips he explains
how southernism did not come from any migration but started directly in the south. There were
no state rights and some advocates of independence hoped for a merger of the southern states to
have a unitary Southern republic (Phillips 31). During this time of the early south white men
used slavery as a way to keep the whites in power and to make money off of them. After the
Civil War when slaves were free the whites in the south were left with a feeling of uncertainty.
Everything that they had known was now gone and they were afraid of what would happen to the
south now.
During the Introduction to The Southern Tradition by Eugene Genovese, he focuses on
the white people in the south at this time. Genovese explains how many white men in the south

thought that they would lose their traditions after the War (Genovese 3). Southern Conservatives
say the traditions of the Old South were religiously grounded societies (Genovese 4). When
these white men lost the War they felt as if they had lost their traditions. Southerners were afraid
they would lose the heritage that came with their traditions.
In The Inventions of Southern Tradition by Charles Wilson he tells how the southern
states even though after losing the War still kept some of their traditions alive. After the War
many southerners were afraid of losing their traditions. They were afraid if one would slip away
then eventually so would the others (Wilson 7). Some of the traditions that the south kept were
the song Dixie, the Confederate flag and Confederate Memorial Day (Wilson 9 &10). During
this time period with remembering the traditions and celebrating the Confederacy the black folks
in the south were being ignored like they were not even a part of the southern history.
David Goldfield wrote Whose Southern History Is It Anyway? where he explains how
the whites in the south were worshipping the Old South like there was no bad in it. The white
southerners did not want to see an African American doing well because it contradicted there
perception of them and their view of history (Goldfield 10). African Americans during this
period after the War studied more about their history to promote a better one that what has been
going on (Goldfield 12). There were many different things such as statues and flags
commemorating the Confederacy but nothing honoring the black during this time. This gave the
question to blacks if they were even apart of southern history. As time went on there was less
praise for the Confederacy and move of shamefulness for what they had done with slavery.
Many historical places and museums came around for the blacks from the Confederacy
(Goldstein 17). The Civil War and after is now remembered by both by blacks and whites. This
can hopefully know bring about a new history for the south.

The south has many different themes. The white peoples theme of the south after the War
was to commemorate the Confederacy and their forefathers. The black peoples theme was
looking down on this time period of slavery and being mistreated. Now black and white people
from the south are considered southerners and making new southern traditions.