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]
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]
In early 2010s, Donald Trump placed a monument commemorating an imaginary battle of the American Civil War on his Virginia golf course. [2]
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." [3] 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." [4]
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." [5] Trump used several adjectives to characterize the battle, including beautiful, horrible, interesting, unbelievable, and vicious. [5] 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 uphill assault, over nearly a mile of open ground, 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. [6]
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." [7] 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. [8] Douglass died in 1895. [8]
Trump has suggested that the average American is unfamiliar with Abraham Lincoln's political party affiliation. [9] 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. [10]
Trump has repeatedly described himself as the best president in U.S. history, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln. [11] However, Trump argues that Lincoln has been overrated when in fact he was responsible for the American Civil War, which could or should have been prevented by superior executive leadership. [11] Historian Harold Holzer told the Associated Press that Trump's historical analysis demonstrates "malice toward Lincoln." [11] Abraham Lincoln, who was often referred to as "the martyr president" in the immediate wake of his assassination, [12] 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." [13]
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.'" [14] 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?" [14] 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." [15] 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." [15] 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." [15]
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?" [16] 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." [17] A number of those books address the causes of the American Civil War.
One historian suggested that perhaps Trump had confused Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson, [14] which is a common problem for students and English language learners. [18] [19] 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. Other historians have suggested that the Andrew Johnson administration is the most appropriate historical analogue for Trump's first presidential term, [20] [21] arguing that the two share a "concept of American nationalism [that] is narrow, parochial, and authoritarian" and that while "many fallible men have inhabited the office of the presidency, only a handful have been so oblivious to the oath they took that they have met the constitutional standard for impeachment." [22]
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.
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.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War fought between Union and Confederate forces between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, which was won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War's turning point, ending the Confederacy's aspirations to establish an independent nation. It was the Civil War's bloodiest battle, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties over three days.
Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1864, near the end of the American Civil War. Incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. For the election, the Republican Party and some Democrats created the National Union Party, especially to attract War Democrats.
Richard Stoddert Ewell was an American military officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and fought effectively through much of the war. Still, his legacy was clouded by controversies over his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
Alfred Pleasonton was a United States Army officer and major general of volunteers in the Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg campaign, including the largest predominantly cavalry battle of the war, Brandy Station. In 1864, he was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi theater, where he defeated Confederate General Sterling Price in two key battles, including the Battle of Mine Creek, the second largest cavalry battle of the war, effectively ending the war in Missouri. He was the son of Stephen Pleasonton and the younger brother of Augustus Pleasonton.
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.
In political studies, surveys have been conducted in order to construct historical rankings of the success of the presidents of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The scholarly rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures, and faults. Popular-opinion polls typically focus on recent or well-known presidents.
Elon John Farnsworth was a Union Army captain in the American Civil War. He commanded Brigade 1, Division 3 of the Cavalry Corps from June 28, 1863 to July 3, 1863, when he was mortally wounded and died at the Battle of Gettysburg. He was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln for appointment to the grade of brigadier general on June 29, 1863 but was not confirmed by the United States Senate before his death at Gettysburg.
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is a 2004 American mockumentary film written and directed by Kevin Willmott.
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.
The National Union Party, commonly the Union Party or Unionists, was a wartime coalition of Republicans, War Democrats, and border state Unconditional Unionists that supported the Lincoln Administration during the American Civil War. It held the 1864 National Union Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president and Andrew Johnson for vice president in the 1864 United States presidential election. Following Lincoln's successful re-election and assassination, Johnson tried and failed to sustain the Union Party as a vehicle for his presidential ambitions. The coalition did not contest the 1868 elections, but the Republican Party continued to use the "Union Republican" label throughout the period of Reconstruction.
The 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was part of the Union Iron Brigade.
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.
The presidency of Abraham Lincoln began on March 4, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States, and ended upon his assassination on April 14, 1865 and death the next morning, 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.
Events from the year 1863 in the United States.
War Democrats in American politics of the 1860s were members of the Democratic Party who supported the Union and rejected the policies of the Copperheads. The War Democrats demanded a more aggressive policy toward the Confederacy and supported the policies of Republican President Abraham Lincoln when the American Civil War broke out a few months after his victory in the 1860 presidential election.
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.
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.
