William Marvel: Presentism

I grew up learning a version of Civil War history that modified the South’s Lost Cause mythology with reconciliation rhetoric from the North. Both explanations unraveled under serious study, and after pondering a succession of other socioeconomic and political viewpoints I concluded that the era had never been accurately portrayed. Focusing on original research into period sources, I soon found myself producing entirely new interpretations of different elements in the conflict that struck me (and many of my contemporaries) as more reliable. The ensuing critical reactions have run hot and cold as dictated by ideological ferment.

Thirty years ago, I dug into Confederate records of the military prison at Andersonville that had lain untouched in the National Archives for a century and a quarter, and scoured manuscript repositories for prisoners’ diaries. The result, although still a harrowing tale, contradicted the portrayal of deliberate attrition that Republicans used after the war to demonize Confederates and smear Northern Democrats as their allies.