Confederate Monuments Essay

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No other conflict has brought as much bloodshed, trauma, and division to the United States of America than the American Civil War. While other wars that Americans have fought in may have been fought on larger scales, with grander armies and greater resources, none compare to the lasting effects of the Civil War which continue to plague the Nation to this day. Approximately 618,000 Americans lost their lives between the years of 1861 and 1865. States, cities, and families turned on one another in a desperate struggle; a struggle which was to continue to divide the Nation long after the last guns had been fired. A cessation to the violence which had surrounded the Nation for years did little to calm the hearts of those who had survived it. …show more content…

The Confederate Monument stands at an impressive 32-feet in height, topped with a larger-than life figure of a woman, meant to represent the spirit of the South. In her left hand she holds a laurel wreath crown, the ancient symbol for peace. In her right hand she holds a pruning hook on a plow stock, echoing the agricultural heritage of the Southern people. She stands atop four cinerary urns, each engraved with a year. Each year represents the years of the Civil War. The four sides of the Monument offer scenes depicting Confederate Soldiers in a variety of situations. They are seen answering the call from Minerva, the Goddess of War and Wisdom; depicted as attempting to hold up a women symbolized as the Mother of the South. The Confederate Soldiers are shown as they depart for war, from the young man leaving his sweetheart, to the father leaving his babe in the arms of his African-American nurse. This particular scene is important in understanding one of, if not the primary reason for the Monument’s creation as claimed by opponents of the Confederate Monument and the …show more content…

To this day, there are still many who try to fight the monuments meaning, and stop the annual laying of the wreath at the memorial. While this is a tradition that has been ongoing since the unveiling, some feel that it is keeping the South alive, which is fueling the neo-Confederate movement. The date that the wreath was laid has since moved from June 4 to Memorial Day itself. Even with the change, no President has missed a year of honoring the monument, and the meaning behind it.
One of the most recent and highly publicized controversies surrounding the Confederate Monument can be found in a letter written to President Barack Obama in May of 2009. In this letter, scholars urged that the White House not send a wreath to honor the Confederate Monument, which is a longstanding tradition of the President to honor all of the monuments within Arlington Cemetery annually. The letter

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