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Nancy Pelosi wants to remove 11 Confederate statues from the Capitol. So, who are we talking about?
First on the list is Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
First on the list is Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.
Second, Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general.
Then there's Alexander Stephens, vice president. He delivered the infamous speech calling the cornerstone of the Confederacy the "great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition."
That's some inscription on his pedestal. "I am afraid of nothing on the earth, above the earth, beneath the earth, except to do wrong."
There there are a bunch of officers. Wade Hampton, S.C., sold his cotton to Europe to buy weapons for the South, he raised troops, fought all over, including Gettysburg, and rose to Lt. Gen.
James Zachariah George was a Confederate colonel. He was captured twice, and spent two years in prison. He eventually became chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court then a U.S. senator.
Edmund Kirby Smith quit the US Army to join the confederacy. He wound up a general, but was severely injured at Manassas. Florida has voted to replace his statue with Mary McLeod Bethune.
Joseph Wheeler, of Alabama, also quit the US Army to sign up with the Confederates. Robert E. Lee thought he was one of his best cavalry officers. He made general. He eventually became a congressman, and then a US general for the Spanish American war.
Zebulon Vance was a backer of the Union, but he ultimately formed his own unit in the Confederate army, rose in the ranks and became governor of North Carolina. After the war, he was eventually reelected governor, then to the US Senate.
Uriah Milton Rose was the chancellor (judge) in Pulaski County, Arkansas. He opposed secession, but swore loyalty to the Confederacy to stay a judge, and refused to swear loyalty to the Union.
Edward Douglass White would go on to become chief justice of the US Supreme Court, but in 1861, he quit college at Georgetown to enlist in the South.
And last, John Kenna, of West Virginia, joined the Confederate army when he was just 16, and got injured. He went on to become a congressman, then US senator.
(Some photos are mine, but mostly from the Capitol flickr account.)
(Some photos are mine, but mostly from the Capitol flickr account.)
It really is remarkable how many men participated in and led an insurrection against the United States, and went on to become its most prominent citizens anyway. Contrast that to what happened to Black people who revolt, or peacefully protest, or maybe just walk down the street.
Here's a longer look at the Confederate statues, with more background and links. https://www.capitolnewsforum.com/post/here-are-the-11-confederates-honored-with-statues-in-the-capitol
