Lost Cause of the Confederacy

E22696

historical myth ideology interpretive tradition

The Lost Cause of the Confederacy is a post–Civil War ideological movement that romanticizes the Confederate cause, downplays slavery’s central role, and portrays the South’s defeat as honorable and inevitable.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Lost Cause of the Confederacy canonical	20
Lost Cause	1
Lost Cause movement	1
Lost Cause mythology of the American South	1
Lost Cause of the Confederacy (historical association)	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical myth ⓘ ideology ⓘ interpretive tradition ⓘ
associatedWith	Confederate States of America ⓘ Confederate battle flag ⓘ Confederate heritage organizations ⓘ surface form: Confederate memorial days Confederate monuments ⓘ
centeredOn	Southern United States ⓘ surface form: American South
claims	Confederacy fought for constitutional liberty ⓘ Confederacy fought for self-government ⓘ
contestedBy	modern historians ⓘ
continuesToInfluence	debates over Confederate symbols ⓘ public memory in the United States ⓘ
criticizedFor	distorting causes of the Civil War ⓘ erasing experiences of enslaved people ⓘ promoting historical revisionism ⓘ
downplays	brutality of slavery ⓘ slavery’s central role in causing the Civil War ⓘ
emergedAfter	American Civil War ⓘ
emergedIn	late 19th century ⓘ
emphasizes	Southern honor ⓘ heroism of Confederate soldiers ⓘ military skill of Confederate generals ⓘ states’ rights as cause of the Civil War ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ surface form: Lost Cause
idealizes	Antebellum period ⓘ surface form: antebellum South
influenced	Southern public memory of the Civil War ⓘ popular culture depictions of the Civil War ⓘ school textbooks in the American South ⓘ
influencedBy	Confederate heritage organizations ⓘ surface form: Confederate veterans’ organizations United Confederate Veterans ⓘ United Daughters of the Confederacy ⓘ former Confederate leaders ⓘ
justifies	secession ⓘ
linkedTo	Civil War reconciliationist narratives ⓘ Southern identity politics ⓘ
minimizes	racism in the Confederacy ⓘ
portrays	Confederate cause as noble ⓘ Confederate defeat as honorable ⓘ Confederate defeat as inevitable ⓘ slavery as benign or paternalistic ⓘ
promotedBy	Southern white elites ⓘ heritage organizations ⓘ monument-building campaigns ⓘ
romanticizes	plantation life ⓘ
supports	white supremacist narratives ⓘ
usedTo	legitimize Jim Crow segregation ⓘ oppose Reconstruction policies ⓘ

Referenced by (24)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Lost Cause ideology → hasAlternativeName → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Lost Cause of the Confederacy → hasAlternativeName → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

this entity surface form: Lost Cause

United Daughters of the Confederacy → notableIdeology → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Monument Avenue Historic District → theme → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

this entity surface form: Lost Cause of the Confederacy (historical association)

Confederate monuments → associatedWithMovement → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

this entity surface form: Lost Cause movement

CSA → legacyTopic → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

subject surface form: Confederate States of America

Virginia Memorial → theme → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Caroline Meriwether Goodlett → movement → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Military Order of the Stars and Bars → ideologyAssociatedWith → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

United Confederate Veterans → ideology → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan → ideologyPromoted → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

The Leopard's Spots → ideology → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Thomas Dixon Jr. → movement → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Major General Jubal A. Early → ideology → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

subject surface form: Jubal A. Early

Children of the Confederacy → ideology → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Anna Davenport Raines → movement → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Sam Davis Memorial → hasHeritageTheme → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Jefferson Davis monument → associatedWith → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Confederate Soldiers section pyramid → associatedWith → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Twelve Oaks plantation → culturalContext → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

this entity surface form: Lost Cause mythology of the American South

Confederate Soldiers’ Pyramid → associatedWith → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Matthew Fontaine Maury Monument (removed) → hasContext → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

subject surface form: Matthew Fontaine Maury Monument

Sons of Confederate Veterans → ideology → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ

Flora Cooke Stuart → movement → Lost Cause of the Confederacy ⓘ