Donald Trump and the American Civil War

Last updated

Confederate flags and Trump flags for sale in Humble, Texas Roadside Sales, FM 1960, Humble, Texas 1911181348 (49086203293).jpg
Confederate flags and Trump flags for sale in Humble, Texas

American president Donald Trump has periodically had occasion to share his views on the American Civil War, which has been described as "the central event in America's historical consciousness." [1] Trump has been especially interested in the way the antebellum presidents dealt with sectional conflict and how they approached the constitutional and ethical issues involved in the use of U.S. military resources to resolve domestic crises, as well as taking note of the best practices of the civilian leadership and battlefield commanders of the era.

Contents

Battles of the American Civil War

Donald Trump campaigned for the presidency in 2016 at Gettysburg National Military Park, stating, "It's my privilege to be here in Gettysburg, hallowed ground where so many lives were given...President Lincoln served at a time of division like we've never seen before. It is my hope that we can look at his example to heal the divisions we are living through right now." [2] His most notable statement at this campaign stop was about sexual misconduct allegations that had been made against him, regarding which he said, "Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign—total fabrication...All of these liars will be sued after the election is over." [3]

In 2013, Civil War reenactors form lines before the march on Cemetery Ridge, part of a recreation of Pickett's Charge for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg Confederate soldiers form lines to begin their march on Cemetery Ridge during a re-enactment of Pickett's Charge during the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg July 7, 2013, in Gettysburg, Penn 130707-D-DB155-007.jpg
In 2013, Civil War reenactors form lines before the march on Cemetery Ridge, part of a recreation of Pickett's Charge for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg

Trump visited the historic Gettysburg battlefield again in 2024 and offered an upside-down inaccurate retelling of the third and final day of the battle, commenting, "The statement of Robert E. Lee—who's no longer in favor, did you ever notice that?...No longer in favor—'Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.' They were fighting uphill. He said, 'Wow, that was a big mistake.' He lost his great general, and they were fighting. 'Never fight uphill, me boys!' But it was too late." [4] Trump used several adjectives to characterize the battle, including beautiful, horrible, interesting, unbelievable, and vicious. [4] Trump did not specify which "great general" whose death in battle he considered central to the Confederate defeat, but the options are Lewis Armistead, William Barksdale, Richard B. Garnett, William Dorsey Pender, J. Johnston Pettigrew, and Paul Jones Semmes. It was Lee who ordered the attack on the high ground held by U.S. Army soldiers led by George Meade. Confederate general James Longstreet discouraged Lee from attempting the assault uphill, over nearly a mile of field, in broad daylight, against an entrenched enemy, but Lee was not dissuaded. Waves of Confederates were shredded by long-range artillery, shrapnel, and musket fire in the attack known to history as Pickett's Charge. The battle was lost, the high-water mark of the Confederacy was set down on a ridgeline in southern Pennsylvania, and through romanticized retelling, Pickett's Charge evolved over time into an emotional keystone of the Lost Cause mythology. [5]

In the early 2010s, Donald Trump placed a monument on his Virginia golf course commemorating an imaginary battle of the American Civil War. [6]

Views on Civil War presidents

Abraham Lincoln

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Vice President Pence, and President Trump participate in a virtual town hall at the Lincoln Memorial in 2020 Fox News Virtual Town Hall (49855128962).jpg
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Vice President Pence, and President Trump participate in a virtual town hall at the Lincoln Memorial in 2020

Trump has suggested that the average American is unfamiliar with Abraham Lincoln's political party affiliation. [7] Lincoln had been a Whig during his single term as a Representative to Congress from Illinois, but he was ultimately the first president elected from the then-new Republican Party, after the collapse of the Whigs and the bifurcation of the Democratic nomination cleared the way for his election in 1860, which opened the American political era known as the Third Party System. [8]

Trump has repeatedly described himself as the best president in U.S. history, with the possible exception of Lincoln. [9] However, Trump claims that Lincoln has been overrated, arguing that in fact he was responsible for the American Civil War, which could or should have been prevented by superior executive leadership. [9] Historian Harold Holzer told the Associated Press that Trump's historical analysis demonstrates "malice toward Lincoln." [9] Abraham Lincoln, who was often referred to as "the martyr president" in the immediate wake of his assassination, [10] is typically ranked as the greatest American president by professional historians, and is a rare figure of near universal respect in the American civic pantheon. According to one writer, "We measure presidents by how they represent ourselves, and how we wish to be. Lincoln, the rail-splitter raised to destiny by war and to near-divinity by assassination, embodies both. More than George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln is our sage and aspiration, the ordinary and unexpected man of greatness, the victor and martyr of the great American narrative, the Civil War." [11]

Andrew Jackson

In 2018 Trump spoke about Christmas from the Oval Office while sitting at the Resolute desk; on the wall in the background is Ralph R. W. Earl's 1835 portrait of Andrew Jackson President Donald J. Trump participates in a Christmas Day video teleconference from the Oval Office (32629901988).jpg
In 2018 Trump spoke about Christmas from the Oval Office while sitting at the Resolute desk; on the wall in the background is Ralph R. W. Earl's 1835 portrait of Andrew Jackson

Trump has also contended that former slave trader, militia leader, and seventh president Andrew Jackson —had he lived into his 90s and still been engaged in national politics—would have found a non-violent conclusion to the sectional conflict, stating "[Jackson] was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said: 'There's no reason for this.'" [12] Interviewed by the BBC, historian David Blight commented, "Jackson had absolutely no vision of any kind of racial egalitarianism. He had no hint of any kind of anti-slavery movement. And if President Trump doesn't understand anything about why we had a civil war, what can he understand about race relations now? Or about our problems with inequality? And he thinks Andrew Jackson would have prevented the war...Where do I start?" [12] Jackson died in 1845, 16 years before the beginning of the American Civil War, but had he engaged in the politics of the immediate antebellum period, he would have possibly experienced a conflict between his patriotism, his militarism, and his paternalistic beliefs about slavery. [13] [14] According to Robert V. Remini, who wrote a major three-volume biography of Old Hickory, Jackson's allies believed that "slaveholding was as American as capitalism, nationalism, or democracy...the white southern celebration of liberty always included the freedom to preserve black slavery. That states Jackson's own position precisely." [15]

Trump's comments are comparable to the revisionist view of the American Civil War of the early 20th century. The revisionist school of historians, including Avery O. Craven, Charles W. Ramsdell, and James G. Randall, sought to revise the "nationalist perspective that viewed the war as justly fought to save the union and abolish slavery." [16] These historians characterized antebellum U.S. politicians as "blundering," and argued that the war was the product of a "breakdown in democracy and the actions of fanatical abolitionists. They portrayed slavery as a benign but unprofitable institution and assumed it would have died out, probably in the near future." [16] The revisionist school has been abandoned by working historians since the end of the nadir of American race relations era, so revisionism is now largely the province of "right-wing polemicists, neo-Confederate apologists, and some libertarians." [16]

On the same occasion where he shared his alternate history fantasy about Jackson living to disrupt the secessionist movement in the slave states, Trump commented, "People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?" [17] In 2012, authors James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier estimated that since 1865 more than 100,000 books and articles have been published about the American Civil War, writing, "No event in American history has been so thoroughly studied, not merely by historians, but by tens of thousands of other Americans who have made the war their hobby." [18] A number of those books address the causes of the American Civil War.

Andrew Johnson

One historian suggested that perhaps Trump had confused Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson. [12] Johnson was president in the final days of the American Civil War and oversaw the first years of Reconstruction before he was defeated for re-nomination by Horatio Seymour and/or Ulysses S. Grant. Other historians have suggested that the Andrew Johnson administration is the most appropriate historical analogue for Trump's first presidential term, [19] [20] arguing that the two share a similar concept of American nationalism.

Slavery and the American Civil War

In 2017, Trump displayed his knowledge of 19th-century American civil rights leaders when he told a crowd of 21st-century American civil rights leaders, "Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice." [21] Douglass, who is considered "a central figure in U.S. and African American history," has been famous since the publication of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself in 1845. [22] Douglass died in 1895. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Lincoln</span> President of the United States from 1861 to 1865

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Civil War</span> 1861–1865 conflict in the United States

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union. The central conflict leading to war was a dispute over whether slavery should be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prohibited from doing so, which many believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Jackson</span> President of the United States from 1829 to 1837

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Before his presidency, he gained fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. Sometimes praised as an advocate for working Americans and for preserving the union of states, Jackson is also criticized for his racist policies, particularly regarding Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Origins of the American Civil War</span>

The origins of the American Civil War were rooted in the desire of the Southern states to preserve the institution of slavery. Historians in the 21st century overwhelmingly agree on the centrality of slavery in the conflict. They disagree on which aspects were most important, and on the North's reasons for refusing to allow the Southern states to secede. The pseudo-historical Lost Cause ideology denies that slavery was the principal cause of the secession, a view disproven by historical evidence, notably some of the seceding states' own secession documents. After leaving the Union, Mississippi issued a declaration stating, "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Cause of the Confederacy</span> Negationist myth of the American Civil War

The Lost Cause of the Confederacy is an American pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that argues the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. First enunciated in 1866, it has continued to influence racism, gender roles, and religious attitudes in the Southern United States into the 21st century. Historians have dismantled many parts of the Lost Cause mythos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turning point of the American Civil War</span>

There is widespread disagreement among historians about the turning point of the American Civil War. A turning point in this context is an event that occurred during the conflict after which most modern scholars would agree that the eventual outcome was inevitable. The near simultaneous Battle of Gettysburg in the east and fall of Vicksburg in the west, in July 1863 is widely cited as the military climax of the American Civil War. Several other decisive battles and events throughout the war have been proposed as turning points. The events are presented here in chronological order with only the positive arguments for each given.

The most common name for the American Civil War in modern American usage is simply "The Civil War". Although rarely used during the war, the term "War Between the States" became widespread afterward in the Southern United States. During and immediately after the war, Northern historians often used the terms "War of the Rebellion" and "Great Rebellion", and the Confederate term was "War for Southern Independence", which regained some currency in the 20th century but has again fallen out of use. The name "Slaveholders' Rebellion" was used by Frederick Douglass and appears in newspaper articles. "Freedom War" is used to celebrate the war's effect of ending slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert V. Remini</span> American historian (1921–2013)

Robert Vincent Remini was an American historian and a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He wrote numerous books about President Andrew Jackson and the Jacksonian era, most notably a three-volume biography of Jackson. For the third volume of Andrew Jackson, subtitled The Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845, he won the 1984 U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction. Remini was widely praised for his meticulous research on Jackson and thorough knowledge of him. His books portrayed Jackson in a mostly favorable light and he was sometimes criticized for being too partial towards his subject.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Party System</span> Phase in U.S. electoral politics (1828–1854)

The Second Party System was the political party system operating in the United States from about 1828 to early 1854, after the First Party System ended. The system was characterized by rapidly rising levels of voter interest, beginning in 1828, as demonstrated by Election Day turnouts, rallies, partisan newspapers, and high degrees of personal loyalty to parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Meacham</span> American journalist and biographer (born 1969)

Jon Ellis Meacham is an American writer, reviewer, historian and presidential biographer who is serving as the Canon Historian of the Washington National Cathedral since November 7, 2021. A former executive editor and executive vice president at Random House, he is a contributing writer to The New York Times Book Review, a contributing editor to Time magazine, and a former editor-in-chief of Newsweek. He is the author of several books. He won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. He holds the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Endowed Chair in American Presidency at Vanderbilt University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Wilentz</span> American historian (born 1951)

Robert Sean Wilentz is an American historian who serves as the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1979. His primary research interests include U.S. social and political history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has written numerous award-winning books and articles including, most notably, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln, which was awarded the Bancroft Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen C. Guelzo</span> American historian (born 1953)

Allen Carl Guelzo is an American historian who serves as the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Research Scholar and Director of the Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He formerly was a professor of History at Gettysburg College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winchester, Virginia, in the American Civil War</span>

The city of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area, were the site of numerous battles during the American Civil War, as contending armies strove to control the lower Shenandoah Valley. Winchester changed hands more often than any other Confederate city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Abraham Lincoln</span> U.S. presidential administration from 1861 to 1865

The presidency of Abraham Lincoln began March 4, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States, and ended upon his death on April 15, 1865, 42 days into his second term. Lincoln was the first member of the recently established Republican Party elected to the presidency. Lincoln successfully presided over the Union victory in the American Civil War, which dominated his presidency and resulted in the end of slavery. He was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Andrew Jackson</span> U.S. presidential administration from 1829 to 1837

The presidency of Andrew Jackson began on March 4, 1829, when Andrew Jackson was inaugurated as 7th President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1837. Jackson took office after defeating incumbent President John Quincy Adams in the bitterly contested 1828 presidential election. During the 1828 presidential campaign, Jackson founded the political force that coalesced into the Democratic Party during Jackson's presidency. Jackson won re-election in 1832, defeating National Republican candidate Henry Clay by a wide margin. He was succeeded by his hand-picked successor, Vice President Martin Van Buren, after Van Buren won the 1836 presidential election.

Historiography examines how the past has been viewed or interpreted. Historiographic issues about the American Civil War include the name of the war, the origins or causes of the war, and President Abraham Lincoln's views and goals regarding slavery.

American Civil War alternate histories are alternate history fiction that focuses on the Civil War ending differently or not occurring. The American Civil War is a popular point of divergence in English-language alternate history fiction. The most common variants detail the victory and survival of the Confederate States. Less common variants include a Union victory under different circumstances from actual history, resulting in a different postwar situation; black American slaves freeing themselves by revolt without waiting for Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; a direct British and/or French intervention in the war; the survival of Lincoln during John Wilkes Booth's assassination attempt; a retelling of historical events with fantasy elements inserted; the Civil War never breaking out and a peaceful compromise being reached; and secret history tales. The point of divergence in such a story can be a "natural, realistic" event, such as one general making a different decision, or one sentry detecting an enemy invasion unlike in reality. It can also be an "unnatural" fantasy/science fiction plot device such as time travel, which usually takes the form of someone bringing modern weapons or hindsight knowledge into the past. Still another related variant is a scenario of a Civil War that breaks out at a different time from 1861 and under different circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps</span>

The Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps concerns both the actual stamps and covers used during the American Civil War, and the later postage celebrations. The latter include commemorative stamp issues devoted to the actual events and personalities of the war, as well as definitive issues depicting many noteworthy individuals who participated in the era's crucial developments.

"The River of Blood" is a monument located on a golf course in Lowes Island, Virginia, owned by former President of the United States Donald Trump. A plaque signed with Trump's name states that the monument marks what Trump claims is an American Civil War battle site having significant casualties, although no listed battle or publicly disclosed event with any recorded casualties took place at the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of Andrew Jackson</span>

The following is a list of important scholarly resources related to Andrew Jackson.

Andrew Jackson, I am given to understand, was a patriot and a traitor. He was one of the greatest of generals, and wholly ignorant of the art of war. A writer brilliant, elegant, eloquent, without being able to compose a correct sentence, or spell words of four syllables. The first of statesmen, he never devised, he never framed a measure. He was the most candid of men, and was capable of the profoundest dissimulation. A most law-defying, law-obeying citizen. A stickler for discipline, he never hesitated to disobey a superior. A democratic autocrat. An urbane savage. An atrocious saint.

References

  1. ↑ McPherson, James. "A Brief Overview of the American Civil War". American Battlefield Trust. Archived from the original on 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  2. ↑ McCammon, Sarah (2016-10-23). "A Civil War History Lesson On Trump's Visit To Gettysburg". NPR All Things Considered. Archived from the original on 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  3. ↑ Rott, Nathan (2016-10-22). "In Gettysburg, Trump Mixes Policy With Personal Attacks". NPR All Things Considered.
  4. 1 2 "Trump's Completely Incoherent Gettysburg Rant Gets Flayed on Twitter". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583. Archived from the original on 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  5. ↑ Reardon, Carol (2010). Pickett's charge in history and memory. Civil War America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   978-0-8078-5461-7.
  6. ↑ Fandos, Nicholas (November 24, 2015). "In Renovation of Golf Club, Donald Trump Also Dressed Up History". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ Nussbaum, Matthew (2017-05-01). "Historians see a dark underside to Trump's Civil War riff". POLITICO. Archived from the original on 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  8. ↑ Society, Ripon (2015-11-16). "Why Lincoln was a Republican". The Ripon Society. Archived from the original on 2024-12-01. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  9. 1 2 3 O'Connor, John (2024-10-25). "Altogether fitting and proper? Trump repeatedly compares himself to Abraham Lincoln". AP News. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  10. ↑ The Body of the Martyr President, Abraham Lincoln, Lying in State at the City Hall, N.Y., April 24th & 25th, 1865, 1865, archived from the original on 2024-12-02, retrieved 2024-11-30
  11. ↑ Italie, Hillel. "Legend has transformed Lincoln from man to near-deity". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  12. 1 2 3 Gunter, Joel (2017-05-01). "Civil War historians take on Trump". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  13. ↑ Warshauer, Matthew (2006). "Andrew Jackson: Chivalric Slave Master". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 65 (3): 203–229. ISSN   0040-3261. JSTOR   42627964.
  14. ↑ Warshauer, Matthew (2006). Andrew Jackson and the politics of martial law: nationalism, civil liberties, and partisanship. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN   978-1-57233-548-6.
  15. ↑ Remini (1988), p. 89.
  16. 1 2 3 Masur, Louis P. (2017-05-03). "Donald Trump Is a Civil War Revisionist". History News Network. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  17. ↑ "Trump stirs debate in remarks on American Civil War". BBC News. 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  18. ↑ James Lincoln Collier; Christopher Collier (2012). Slavery and the Coming of the Civil War: 1831–1861. Blackstone Publishing. p. 9. ISBN   978-1620645116.
  19. ↑ Stewart, David (2021-01-20). "Two Peas in a Pod: Trump and Andrew Johnson". David O. Stewart. Archived from the original on 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  20. ↑ Murphy, Tim. "Trump's not Richard Nixon. He's Andrew Johnson". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  21. ↑ Graham, David A. (2017-02-01). "Donald Trump's Favorite Topic for Black History Month: Himself". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  22. 1 2 Sundstrom, Ronald (2023), "Frederick Douglass", in Zalta, Edward N.; Nodelman, Uri (eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2023 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2024-11-30

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.