Tuesday, we’re talking about the history versus the memory of the Civil War. Yale historian David Blight says there’s a lot of misunderstanding about the period, but getting it right matters because the stories we tell about who we were then define who are now.
Tuesday, we’re talking about history versus memory of the Civil War. Last month, retired Marine Corps General and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly called the Confederacy’s Robert E. Lee an honorable man and said the war that ripped apart the nation was simply a failure to compromise. But Yale historian David Blight says that version of the past doesn’t match historic fact. And he argues it matters that we get it right, because the stories we tell about who we were then define who we are now.
- David Blight is a Professor of American History at Yale University. Visit his website davidwblight.com to read his articles and essays on public memory and the Civil War. His many books are available through Indie bookstores and through Amazon.
