The fate of the Southern Unionists began to be clear with the massacre at Ft. Pillow, where Nathan Bedford Forrest's men massacred white soldiers of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. Yet, Ft. Pillow is remembered mainly for the massacre of black soldiers. Both Congress and Lincoln forgot the Southern loyalists, and forgotten they are today. These men risked more for their nation than did the men of the North, for they risked execution on capture and consigned their families to the often not-so-tender mercies of their often unforgiving neighbors.
Thank you, TC, for shedding light on the "Other South". Your remarks about the KKK reminded me of the biography of US Grant, written by Ron Chernow. Same chilling and hair raising details of Reconstruction and it's aftermath. It's no wonder the GOP has gerrymandered the heck out of those states. They have to preserve all those myths and suppress the truth.
TC, this was a stellar synopsis of American racism. Bravo 👏🏻. And just one piece of American “whitewashed” history, no pun intended. There’s also the story of indigenous Americans and our, mostly unheard of, interference in South America. (Thy Will Be Done ... a beginning uncovering of our sins) Thank you for your efforts in this. My participation has been sketchy of late and will continue to be so while I deal with some health procedures, but I will be following along with great interest.
from what I've read about how the movie got made, it had long been a pet project for McConaughey. otherwise, no way would it have been made. my impression is that it didn't have great box office, but I could be wrong about that...whenever I start to see film grosses listed, I get nauseated enough to stop reading. why am I supposed to give a fuck about "first weekend's grosses?"
"First weekend's gross" is how they know if the crapshoot that is a decision to make a movie worked or not.
In fact, "Free State of Jones" did not do great business, but it got good reviews and has been successful on DVD, pay cable and general cable. The fact it was a passion project for McConaughey improves my opinion of him.
I know why people who make movies pay attention to "first weekend's gross." I was talking about the rest of us. to me, it means absolutely nothing. nor should it. but those "Entertainment Tonight"-type shows harp on that stuff.
all-in-all, I think it was a much better "system" the way movies were released before "Jaws," when you had first and second-tier theaters and a movie could benefit over a few weeks by word of mouth, etc.
god knows this is especially true when the "biggest" movies tend to be franchise properties.
for example, one of the two or three best movies I saw last year was "Armageddon Time," which might as well not have been released, it did so badly. a good friend tells me that "Aftersun" was great, but that was the first time I'd heard of it.
but if I got started on what I hate about the contemporary moviegoing experience (which got me through my childhood), I could be here for HOURS. suffice it to say that most younger people I meet find the notion of double features to be very, very strange.
This is an amazing essay! So much detail and great historical research. It really adds so much evidence to our understanding of how racism holds our well-endowed nation back from modernizing and educating its citizenry despite building a powerful military that also uses...lots of funding.
Thank you for another lesson about the origins and rise of the New South. I wonder how many of my faithful Republican family members actually noticed when their Grand Old Party was absorbed by the Southern Democrats, carrying forward the name, but giving over the values of Lincoln to the New Democratic Party that grew as Unionists sought fellows with the same commitment they had to retaining the union and a nation of all the people. Guess the trappings of an ideology that invokes The One God of True Christians got their knickers and souls in a real twist.
Thank you, TC, for shedding light on the "Other South". Your remarks about the KKK reminded me of the biography of US Grant, written by Ron Chernow. Same chilling and hair raising details of Reconstruction and it's aftermath. It's no wonder the GOP has gerrymandered the heck out of those states. They have to preserve all those myths and suppress the truth.
Reading Chernow's "Grant" was a real eye opener for me.
As are TC's revelations here.
That's an excellent book. Everyone should read it.
Yup--Chernow's Grant, and your revelations. Fascinating, and not a little upsetting.
Thank you, TC, for another history lesson that never made it into my history classes. At least I am learning the truth now.
For their next possible move? https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/is-the-plague-of-guns-a-racist-fever?r=9bfb7&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
❗️ ❗️ ❗️
TC, this was a stellar synopsis of American racism. Bravo 👏🏻. And just one piece of American “whitewashed” history, no pun intended. There’s also the story of indigenous Americans and our, mostly unheard of, interference in South America. (Thy Will Be Done ... a beginning uncovering of our sins) Thank you for your efforts in this. My participation has been sketchy of late and will continue to be so while I deal with some health procedures, but I will be following along with great interest.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Thy_Will_Be_Done/t9U3DwAAQBAJ?hl=en
Thank you for this, TC. I do appreciate the study and documentation you're doing here.
Some related stories I found interesting:
The Free State of Jones movie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_of_Jones_(film)
All the backcountry resistance to the Confederacy:
https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/southern-unionism.html
The movie is very good.
It blew my mind ... it was the first revelation of what you've written about here.
Yes. I had a hard time figuring how it got made in modern Hollyweird. McConaughey's involvement was likely crucial.
from what I've read about how the movie got made, it had long been a pet project for McConaughey. otherwise, no way would it have been made. my impression is that it didn't have great box office, but I could be wrong about that...whenever I start to see film grosses listed, I get nauseated enough to stop reading. why am I supposed to give a fuck about "first weekend's grosses?"
"First weekend's gross" is how they know if the crapshoot that is a decision to make a movie worked or not.
In fact, "Free State of Jones" did not do great business, but it got good reviews and has been successful on DVD, pay cable and general cable. The fact it was a passion project for McConaughey improves my opinion of him.
I know why people who make movies pay attention to "first weekend's gross." I was talking about the rest of us. to me, it means absolutely nothing. nor should it. but those "Entertainment Tonight"-type shows harp on that stuff.
all-in-all, I think it was a much better "system" the way movies were released before "Jaws," when you had first and second-tier theaters and a movie could benefit over a few weeks by word of mouth, etc.
god knows this is especially true when the "biggest" movies tend to be franchise properties.
for example, one of the two or three best movies I saw last year was "Armageddon Time," which might as well not have been released, it did so badly. a good friend tells me that "Aftersun" was great, but that was the first time I'd heard of it.
but if I got started on what I hate about the contemporary moviegoing experience (which got me through my childhood), I could be here for HOURS. suffice it to say that most younger people I meet find the notion of double features to be very, very strange.
...but yeah, it's a good movie. as was "Glory" something like 40 years earlier.
Important stuff. Wish Netflix or Psramount+ or such would serialize this history. We are such a visual people these days.
Never knew about this side of U.S. history, so thanks for writing about it.
Tom, thanks for highlighting more of this history that's unfortunately been mostly buried or lost. Very enlightening.
Thank you for this excellent history lesson Tom.
One we need now more than ever; history is repeating itself.
Unearthing our hidden history is such a welcome change from the crap i learned as a student. Thank you…
This is an amazing essay! So much detail and great historical research. It really adds so much evidence to our understanding of how racism holds our well-endowed nation back from modernizing and educating its citizenry despite building a powerful military that also uses...lots of funding.
I didn’t know about the Southern Unionists. Thank you!
the First Alabama Cavalry US Volunteers website:
http://www.1stalabamacavalryusv.com/Default.aspx
Thank you for writing - too little is known about this.
I just learned something about the KKK. Ghosts, huh? A legacy of racist hatred that lives on today.
Thank you for another lesson about the origins and rise of the New South. I wonder how many of my faithful Republican family members actually noticed when their Grand Old Party was absorbed by the Southern Democrats, carrying forward the name, but giving over the values of Lincoln to the New Democratic Party that grew as Unionists sought fellows with the same commitment they had to retaining the union and a nation of all the people. Guess the trappings of an ideology that invokes The One God of True Christians got their knickers and souls in a real twist.
You’ve revealed an important ‘lost history’. Thanks very much TC. Amazing what and who have been suppressed.