[Ansteorra] How the Civil War Applies to Us (LONG)
estarkey at camalott.com
estarkey at camalott.com
Tue Jan 29 16:39:18 PST 2008
yeah, what she said. and i got a D on my first history paper at Northern
Illinois University on the causes of the Civil War because I held forth on
the economic struggle and not slavery as the root of the confilict. Winners
write history<G>.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martha Elliff" <polera001 at hotmail.com>
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 3:09 PM
Subject: [Ansteorra] How the Civil War Applies to Us (LONG)
I’ll start out by saying that I am a firm believer in treating everyone
equally regardless of where they had the fortune, or misfortune, of being
born. <G> Please try to remember that as you read on.
Yes, the Civil War does have a lesson to be learned and applied to those of
us within the SCA. You just have to read all the way down to the bottom to
find it. You didn’t think it was going to be easy, did you? ;)
There were a number of fundamental differences in the Northern and Southern
cultures that did not include slavery. These differences were a result of
who colonized those areas, the type of businesses that resulted in those
societies, and how much outside contact they had. The Southern society was
slower paced and agrarian focused. This societal norm resulted in the
famous Southern Hospitality. How often have you seen pineapples used for
decoration? They are the symbols used for, and the legacy of, Southern
Hospitality. Your family’s untarnished name was your primary concern. Your
honor and integrity were your lifeblood. Those are two very different
things. Manners were taught in more than a passing fashion. They were
drilled into you from infancy. Those manners governed everything you did.
How you walked. How you ate. How you talked right down to which name you
gave first when you introduced two people to each other. These rules were
adhered to very strictly among the old moneyed families and they felt it was
their duty to help those less fortunate. The Northern states were more
business oriented and faster paced. The lines have been blurred some by
technology but as a general rule, those from northern states still tend to
talk faster and more bluntly. The Civil War was the result of the clash
between these two very separate societies.
How do I know the parts of history that aren’t widely taught in public
schools? My great grandmother’s roots were deep in Alabama and the four
inch thick etiquette book I balanced on _my_ head as a child had been handed
down for generations. I am sad that there are not more people of my age
group with those experiences. A good deal was gained in that war but oh so
much was also lost. There are few vestiges of the Southern cultural
interaction remaining. Do I think that we shouldn’t progress? Are you
kidding? If we hadn’t, I wouldn’t be about to get my Master’s. I wouldn’t
be able to be a businesswoman, a fighter, an equestrian, a metal and wood
worker, a dancer, and an artist. <G> By the same token, I think that
learning the basics of needlework at your mother’s knee is priceless because
if you can’t learn a little patience there, you never will ;)
I promised I’d tell you how the Civil War related to us. I’ll admit that
what I’ve written seems very tangential to our purpose in the SCA. Note the
difference between what I have told you and the things that you have often
heard. The winner writes history and it’s going to be a little biased
regardless of all efforts made to be impartial. When we look back at the
research of the medieval times, we need to remember that the winners of each
struggle wrote the descriptions of the losers and that there is precious
little about them that we can accept as absolute and unchallengeable fact.
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