Confederate ancestors and how to deal with them [closed]

Question

So, I have (very unfortunately) several ancestors who fought in the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, and it grieves me deeply. I don't know how to handle facts relating to this involvement. Do I include their Confederate Roster information and other related Confederate records in their profiles? Is it, ahem, whitewashing history if I don't? I realize I'm not responsible for the actions of people who died long before I was born, but as a white person who wants to be supportive of Black, Indigenous and People of Color, I most definitely don't want to appear proud of my ancestors' Confederate connections.
Any thoughts or advice?

Comments

There is much more to history about the War Between the States than what is being circulated in popular culture today. Much of what happened to bring about conflict was in regard to political control over taxes and tariffs on the Southern States and the creation of new territories. If you believe the war was over slavery, then look up the Corwin Amendment - which was supported by Lincoln and passed by Congress. Also, the issue of slavery was not added to the Union Declarations until after several months of conflict had raged - the slaves were a political tool. You have nothing to be ashamed about, because your ancestors fought to defend their land and families from an invasion by a foreign Nation.

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THANK YOU!!!  Because it doesn't make much sense to me for families to go off to fight a war when they didn't own slaves.  But I'll read the Corwin Amendment.

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Thank you, Michael.

I do know that there was a lot more to the war than the slavery issue, and that the North did not necessarily stand against slavery in a political sense right away, though there were many, many individuals who did, and who urged the politicians to do so.

The problem does remain that the institution of slavery was still very much a part of what the South was fighting to maintain, as the main driver of their economic system. It wasn't an incidental side-issue that just happened to get pulled along for the ride. There were certainly a lot of Southerners who did not have a horse in the slavery race, so to speak, and were fighting for states' rights or whatever. But the fact will always remain that one of the rights they were fighting for was the right to continue the economic system that used enslaved labor as its main labor force, a system that the politicians and rich white slave owners did not want to see ended.

Facts have people behind them, on both sides. And the descendants of many of those people are still suffering today from what that system did to their ancestors. I never want to forget that.

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Whatever you put on the profiles can be expanded, added to, or changed by other descendants and/or other researchers.

We all need to keep that in mind, I think.

If you are so inclined, I think you should read what others have suggested. Then add what you feel is appropriate to the profiles based on your personal preferences.

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Thank you, Kristina! I have read the other suggestions and have added and will be adding whatever military information is pertinent to my Confederate ancestors' profiles.

Profile owners are the only people who can add to a profile (outside of comments). They can allow other people to be on a profile's "trusted" list, which gives those people the ability to edit information. But outside of that, no one can expand, add to or change a profile. That's what makes WikiTree work so well.

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Anyone can view the information on an Open profile, and any WikiTree member in good standing with a confirmed e-mail address who has signed the Wiki Genealogist Honor Codecan edit it. All edits are tracked, credited to the appropriate member, and can be reversed.

• Profiles of non-living people without any sensitive information or real privacy concerns should be Open.
• Profiles of people born over 150 years ago or who died over 100 years ago must be Open.

Collaboration is what makes WikiTree work so well.

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I stand corrected, Kristina, you are right. Thanks for letting me know. ^_^

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Stacy, I realize you have closed the question (thus my comment and not an answer) and don't really want to continue the conversation.  I'm sorry I missed it yesterday when it was still open.

I am surprised that not a single person answering mentioned WikiTree's U.S. Black Heritage Project.  I also have slave owners among my ancestors.  It is not really an atonement, nor should we have to answer for the actions of our ancestors, but it is something we on WT can do, and that is to follow the guidelines of the USBH project in beginning to help slave descendants trace their ancestry. See this page for a start:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Documenting_Enslaved_People_in_WikiTree

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It's history. It's not for you to judge.  If you're home town was being invaded by a northern army you would fight against then too!

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And not for you to tell me, Randy, what opinions I might hold.

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History is history. It happened, good or bad history cannot be changed. Erasing it or ‘white washing”  it doesn’t change a thing. It should remain as a lesson to learn from. If it’s removed what have you learned.

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Exactly, Pamela, and I regret not expressing myself more clearly the first time.

Of course we should judge history.  Do we want to repeat the Holocaust, for example?

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Thanks Julie for the pointer on entering enslaved people into WT.

Answer 1

I would like to take a moment to remind everyone of the Honor Code that we all signed when we joined WikiTree, and the Discussion Rules for G2G, which state:

2. Don't Criticize Anyone

Do not insult, accuse, or criticize any person or group of people in a public message.

It is in our Honor Code to assume that mistakes are unintentional. When discussing a mistake and how to correct it, do not criticize the person who made the mistake or any group to which they belong.

Comment on the content, not on the contributor.

Use humor carefully

Criticizing a person's ideas is not the same as criticizing the person. However, ridiculing a person's ideas does amount to personal criticism. Phrasing like the following could be interpreted as ridicule:

• "A little thought shows ..."
• "It's ridiculous/preposterous/laughable/foolish/stupid ..."
• "That's sad/silly ..."

Be careful whenever using humor. Humor can be a great way to avoid or defuse a conflict. Targeting yourself with self-deprecating humor is safe. Just don't target someone else or their ideas. Don't use humor as a conversational weapon.

Almost all sarcasm should be avoided here on WikiTree. Sarcasm can easily be misinterpreted as ridicule or condescension. Moreover, since we have members with all different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, your sarcasm might be interpreted literally.

Under no circumstances should you say something as a joke that could be interpreted as a personal insult or threat if interpreted literally.

Unfortunately, our discussion has gotten off-track and there has been some violation of this rule in the comments. I would very much appreciate it if we could move on and stop commenting and just let the question stand as it is answered. No further discussion needs to happen here, unless it can be completely cordial and without insult or deprecation, whether intended or not. I am preaching to myself here, too. Let's move on, y'all. Please. 

Answer 2

Just state the facts and supply the sources.  Not just about involvement in civil war but about as many aspects of their lives as you can find information about.  What they did for an occupation before and after.  Whether they owned slaves.  Everything you can find about about the persons they held in slavery. Many who fought in the civil war didn't own slaves--not because they were opposed to it but because they were young and the slaves--which were very expensive-- were owned by their fathers and grandfathers.  Just the facts.

Answer 3

Of course you include all facts you have about them. Avoid including personal viewpoints.  The truth shall set you free.

Answer 4

Creating profiles for them isn't necessarily indicating pride or approval of what they did. We all have ancestors who have done or believed things that we no longer approve of. I would include all of that information because it helps create a holistic idea of what these ancestors were involved in, and may help other descendants have their own reckonings with their heritage themselves. If you feel uncomfortable writing a bio, I would just add the sources, make some notes, and move on; but stating the facts isn't a stamp of approval of their actions. Perhaps also join a Project that focuses on BIPOC profiles, like the US Black Heritage Project, to help out those communities.

Answer 5

Being honest in their profiles isn't saying you're proud of everything they did.  I'm not proud of my g/grandfather's prison term for manslaughter. But it's part of his life, and it's on his profile.

Answer 6

Thank you all! It's hard to be faced with choices our ancestors made that go against our values, even when we factor in the time and place in which they lived. I've struggled with this question for years, and included the info in my private tree (Family Tree Maker), but wasn't sure what to do about it in so public a forum as this. I appreciate the wisdom to just include it as facts, recognize that these people were who they were, and that it doesn't reflect on me or my family today.

Comments

Questions like this come up fairly frequently on Wikitree. Genealogy isn't just for "good people". I consider genealogy as more than a hobby, but as a practice of social science, and as such, recording the truth about our ancestors is important.

As we study humanity we also have to face what humanity is capable of, both the good and the evil. Sometimes Wikitreers are made uncomfortable because there are profiles for Nazis, slave owners, criminals, and the many thousands of others who did not necessarily participate in these evils, but stood by and were complicit in allowing them to happen. I think it's healthy for all of us to be uncomfortable sometimes. I also think that denying these people their place in history and their place in their family trees is denying the reality of what they did.

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Excellent points, Jessica. I don't mean we should just pretend like these difficult things didn't happen. (As someone with a degree in history -- British and Irish specialization -- I definitely know that if we erase or whitewash or excise bits from history, we will repeat the mistakes of the past.) And you're right -- if we're comfortable with everything in our family trees, we will fail to look at what's going on around us right now and be blind to what humanity can do, both good and bad. (And likely we're not finding all the truth, as we all have good and bad actors in our trees.) Thank you for putting it all so well.

Answer 7

When we project our own modern views and motivations on our ancestors, we are exposing our own failings, not theirs.  While we may not like an action that they took over 150 years ago, we don't know why they did it and cannot accurately project a motivation on them or judge whether in the context of the times it was justified.   We know that many in the south fought for the Confederacy.  But we don't know how many of them did it to support slavery.  Many who fought are known to have done so for multiple other reasons.  Gen Lee himself did not believe in slavery but joined the Confederate Army due to loyalty to his state of Virginia.   We know also that many were drafted (on either side), and fought not because of any belief, but because they had to.  We know others joined because of economic necessity.  To call their involvement unfortunate, because it doesn't fit our current views reflects poorly on us, not them.

 

Likewise, we should not be smug and laud our northern ancestors for fighting in the Union Army to oppose slavery.  A great number of those who fought did no such thing.  Like their southern brothers many were drafted, many joined the army for economic reasons, and others fought to be with their friends, relatives, or to support their state.  Many of these had no problem with slavery, or perhaps they only eventually opposed it because it was the thing to do and was a way to show opposition to the Confederacy. Times were different.

 

After the war, those who fought on either side recognized that not everyone fighting was fighting about slavery, even if that was the issue which drove the country to war.  They also recognized the gallantry and utter horrors experienced by those they fought against.  They recognized the need to come together to rebuild a nation where there was no more slavery.  For this reason, they reconciled, forgave each other, and moved forward.  We need to remember that and do likewise.

 

That there were evil and misguided politicians that took advantage of that reconciliation to continue to oppress the freed slaves and perpetuate an atmosphere of oppression in the south, and the north is a different issue and needs to be disentangled and addressed on its own.  It isn't now, because it is too simple to merely blame the whole of the evil on those who fought in the war, and it is convenient to not have to disentangle the evil actions from their effects.   We should not be so intellectually lazy.

 

Address what people did, but don't ascribe motivation to their actions, unless you really know what that motivation was.  Expose bad motivation when it is known and can be properly ascribed so that we can learn to avoid it.  At the same time, recognize that which our ancestors did which was bold, heroic, or showed inner strength and fortitude (surviving battles for instance) so we, and future generations, can also benefit from that.

Comments

Most who fought in the Confederacy didn't own slaves.

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Terrific response, Erik. Thank you for so eloquently stating your answer.

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Interestingly, there were people in the past who were judged by their contemporaries as being cruel or prejudiced even by the standards of the time period. Antonio de Montesinos' scathing 1511 speech to his fellow Spaniards on their treatment of the native peoples of the Americas is one example: Antonio de Montesinos: "Christmas Eve Sermon of 1511" on Just Treatment of Indians (georgetown.edu)

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This is the thing -- many, many people of the day recognized and knew that slavery was a moral wrong. And they spoke out. So I don't feel like we can just say, "They were a product of their time," and let things go. I absolutely recognize the complicated nature of applying modern sensibilities to historical cultures, and I fully understand that he ordinary people living their lives in those times were caught up in many things over which they had no control. However, I still think that people can know something is wrong deep in their spirits, souls, consciences, whatever one wants to call it, regardless of the time period, the culture, how they were educated, etc.

Answer 8

I totally agree with everything said in these answers. All of my ancestors were southern. Three of my great grandfathers fought in the Civil War. One was badly injured. All the men who fought on either side were people - and they all deserve profiles and the telling of their lives. They were more than a warrior in a terrible war. They were sons, husbands, fathers, uncles. They had families who loved them and many, after the war, lived many years and accumulated many records to help tell their stories. That is exactly what we should do!

Answer 9

I would love to have any Black descendants of enslaved people answer this question. I'd very much like to have their viewpoints.

Answer 10

Perhaps the key is to broaden your scope of knowledge. As a person of Irish descent, I suggest studying Cromwell's invasion of Ireland. "To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland." Learn about the Irish slave trade. Engage critical thinking skills so that you can speak from a position of knowledge and not uninformed passion. See the people you research as the individuals they are and not the whole of the society. Broaden your vocabulary so that you might avoid offensive language such as "whitewash". I live in the Deep South although my roots stretch from New England to the Midwest. I would be so happy to mentor you on the historical context of the region, not to change your mind, but to inform you. We grow through knowledge. There is so much more to Southerners than Confederate Roster information. Perhaps they were conscripted? I might be able to help you make sense of it all. I surely would enjoy the conversations.

Comments

Thank you, Victoria, for your offer of help.

My B.A. degree is in History with an emphasis on British and Irish history, and my focus was on the Irish Troubles, so I'm quite familiar with the horrors of what went on in Ireland. And I recently took a course  ("White People 101") with a wonderful racial reconciliation organization called Be the Bridge that was quite educational and extremely informative, grace-filled but did not pull any punches. I'm learning quite a lot about all of this. I was born and raised in Texas (some people consider that the South, but we're not "Deep South") in the 60s and 70s, and know a great deal about racism in the South and in Texas, too. I live in Texas now, although I have lived several other places, as well.

I fully understand and recognize that our Confederate/Southern ancestors were more than their service rosters, though it is a little tough to get past the fact that many of my ancestors did, in fact, own enslaved people. I know that one of my ancestors "did not agree with" the secession, but he put together a regiment in Mississippi because he loved and wanted to support his state. I also know he owned enslaved people. By all accounts he was a good man (other than that). I realize it's complicated and that we cannot paint the entire historical South and all its citizens with the brush of racism. But some seriously bad things went on in the South, and many of our ancestors WERE part of that, whether by choice or by culture.

I don't think it's wrong for me to have a problem with some of the things my ancestors did. I know they don't reflect on me 160 years later. I am not at all trying to write these people out of my family history or out of history in general. I'm not trying to keep them off WikiTree, and neither am I trying to ignore or gloss over the fact that they owned enslaved people and fought for the Confederacy. I'm not implying that they were "bad people", and I know that "times were different".

But it is still a problem for me, and will always be so. I can love my ancestors and still loathe their involvement in slavery. Just as none of us are either all good or all bad, I recognize that this is true of them, as well (I am an intelligent, three-dimensional person, after all). But it will always be difficult for me to know that my family tree has a whole crop of people who enslaved others. Regardless of how "kindly" they treated those folks, they kept them from freedom, and they did not stand against a great moral wrong. There were people who did in those times, so saying "They were a product of their times" doesn't always make everything okay.

At any rate, I'm not here to be educated about what I should or should not feel or think about my ancestors. I simply wanted to know how people handled the uncomfortable bits of their ancestors' lives when it came to filling out their profiles here, and I have received great advice on that, advice that helped. I appreciate that very much.

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"There is so much more to Southerners than Confederate Roster information."

Like sweet tea strong enough its nearly as opaque as coffee and sweet enough to make a spoon stand up. 

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Irish Troubles? That's an interesting phrase.

Sorry, but I'm not into wokeism and I won't apologize for being white. I, too, grew up in the Deep South from the 60s until now. You apparently know everything there is to be known. My offer for discourse was sincere but it would seem we are on different wavelengths. After all, how could I possibly compete with a BA in History.

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Victoria, you misunderstood my response. It was not meant to be hostile, but I did feel a bit like I was being "schooled" on how you think I should think about things. Your reply put me on the defensive. It's okay for me to have a different point of view. And the reason I brought up the degree in History was to explain that I'm not coming at this question as someone who hasn't thought much about history or who doesn't know the complexities of dealing with historical people and their times. My scope of knowledge, which you stated upfront that I need to broaden (that was fun), is not as narrow as you think. I most certainly do not "know everything there is to be known." I'm willing to learn the things I don't know about, but I also feel I can be allowed to say what I DO know, which is all I did here.

I don't consider myself "woke", but if you want to call me that, I'm okay with it. I don't think of it as an insult. No one is asking anyone to apologize for being white. I'm very proud of my European ancestry and feel no need to apologize for it, myself. No one should apologize for their ethnic makeup. I don't think I implied anywhere that anyone should.

I never doubted that your offer of discourse was sincere, but I agree that we are on different wavelengths. I'm not averse to having conversations with people who don't see eye-to-eye with me, but I'm not super into being told by a complete stranger that I need to develop critical thinking skills (my skills in that area are just fine). And honestly, it's not "discourse" if your purpose is to take me under your wing and mentor me in your way of thinking. Conversations where we listen to each other and learn from each other would be great, but I didn't get that vibe here.

I am very grateful to the folks who answered with the good advice to include what is necessary to get a full picture of my ancestors' lives, and to remember that these facts are part of who they were. That was what I was seeking from my question. Unfortunately, it stirred up a lot more than I had intended, so I wish I had not posted it at all.

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Victoria, You don't have to be "wokeism" But did you miss the class on "Irish need not apply" in America?  Or where the Crown of England refused to send assistance during the Potato Famine.

Regardless that it was the Irish fighting with the French who helped us win the War of Independence.  And the Irish did the jobs that no one else would do, but they weren't welcome here.

Then the Italians came and the Jews. Now the Latinos. They all did the jobs whites refused. The Jews broke the "ethnic" barrier in sports. Then the Blacks. Because they realized the only way out of the ghettos was to get a good paying job.

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Stacy, naw... You did good!!!

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Lynette, not only did I not "miss the class," but I have first person narratives, accounts told to me by my grandfather that he learned from his father and uncle, both of whom were Irish immigrants. Historicity. Where you gave me generalities, I was hoping to share individualities.

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I'm sorry if I offended you. It was not my intention.

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This post is supposed to be closed.

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Closed simply means no new answers can be posted - but comments and replies can.

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Thank you, Melanie. I didn't realize it didn't just lock the thread. I would really love to discourage more replies, as things have taken a turn in a direction that I didn't want to go, and some things have gotten heated. Hopefully we can just let things go now. :)

Answer 11

Hi Stacy,

You did a great job on the profiles. I love history myself. I find for me anyway the best sources are the diaries and journals of the civil war soldiers own hand. The records recorded in their day and age by roster, census, etc. The writings of those who lived during the civil war years. The ages varied widely of those who served and it seems to of affected everyone living during the war years in some manner. A horrific time in U.S. history. I have 4 direct ancestors of the civil war that’s not including the siblings who joined with them. I wish I had a journal or diary from their genealogy however those they served with do have diaries so I even know what the weather was that day 

 Thank you for the question 

Comments

Thank you, Andrew! I love reading old diaries of any era. My degree (B.A.) is in history, and I love social history, learning how people lived, what their lives were like. It does help us remember that we all have similar desires and needs in life -- we're all human beings. It's super cool that you can at least find out what things were like in the same places where your ancestors were!

Answer 12

I don't have a simple answer to your question, but I would recommend reading Susan Neiman's excellent Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil. She talks about how Germans are working on coming to terms with their Nazi past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung, or Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung), and suggests lessons for how we can engage in the analogous process of coming to terms with our past. (One element of this, of course, is whom we valorize, and that's what concerns you, I think.) She doesn't propose facile solutions, but I've found her book very helpful.

Comments

That sounds like a fantastic book, Harry. Thanks for recommending it. Yes, valorizing is definitely what I shy away from, and finding the proper balance between respecting my ancestors as human beings but acknowledging they may have participated and benefited from immoral systems is a hard thing to do. I'm going to find that book right now!

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Bought the book -- it looks great. Can't wait to dive in. Thank you so much for recommending it!