Essay:Southern Nationalism

There is such a thing as "southern nationalism", with all the characteristics of a nationalistic mindset, such as the Lost Cause of the South, which perpetrates that the Confederate cause was a "heroic one against great odds", to preserve the "Southern way of life", with all of its slavery, sexism, bigotry, and barbarism, both against each other (all you have to do is read on the Hatfield-McCoy feud to find out), as well as against black folk (read Uncle Tom's Cabin to find out) and Indians. But that's the reality aspect, for the typical nationalistic elements to come into play, we have to go deep into the mind of the Southern bigot; here's a primer:

The Legend of the Lost Cause began as mostly a literary expression of the despair of a bitter, defeated people over a lost identity. It was a landscape dotted with figures drawn mainly out of the past: the chivalric planter; the magnolia-scented Southern belle; the good, gray Confederate veteran, once a knight of the field and saddle; and obliging old Uncle Remus. All these, while quickly enveloped in a golden haze, became very real to the people of the South, who found the symbols useful in the reconstituting of their shattered civilization. They perpetuated the ideals of the Old South and brought a sense of comfort to the New. —

This quote perfectly illuminates the mindset of the "Lost Cause" subhumans, yet the planter was nowhere near being a man of chivalry, for we have many instances of cruelty against slaves, for example, "After slaves were whipped, overseers might order their wounds be burst and rubbed with turpentine and red pepper. An overseer reportly took a brick, ground it into a powder, mixed it with lard and rubbed it all over a slave," or, from the same source, "One nigger run to the woods to be a jungle nigger, but massa cotched him with the dog and took a hot iron and brands him. Then he put a bell on him, in a wooden frame what slip over the shoulders and under the arms. He made that nigger wear the bell a year and took it off on Christmas for a present to him. It sho' did make a good nigger out of him." From another source, since whites would often use public torture as a means of control over their slaves, "The women he hoisted up by the thumbs, whipp'd and slashed her with knives before the other slaves till she died."

Sometimes, after being punished for trying to escape, the slaves would often bear gunshot wounds or dog bite marks inflicted by their masters. Common punishments in the 19th century included castration and the slitting of ears. Quite the "caring" master ye got there, ain't it. Other punishments included tying the slave to four horses to tear apart into four quarters, or gorging out eyes, or cutting off tongues, or amputating limbs.

But let's move away from the "chivalric planters" and move onto the "knights of fields and saddle", the Confederate soldiers. I don't need to put much down here, but I will mention the prison camps, all you need to see this gruesome image of a Union POW:

Poor bastard