Debunking the myth of the Lost Cause: A lie embedded in American history - Karen L. Cox

翻译人员: Yinfeng Ma 校对人员: Helen Chang

Between 1860 and 1861, 11 southern states withdrew from the United States

1860年至1861年 11个南部州脱离美国

and formed the Confederate States of America.

成立了美利坚联盟国（南方邦联）。

They left, or seceded, in response to the growing movement

他们的离开，或说是退出，

for the nationwide abolition of slavery.

是在回应日益兴起的全国废奴运动。

Mississippi said,

密西西比州称，

“our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery.”

“我们的立场与奴隶制完全一致。”

South Carolina cited “hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding states

南卡罗莱纳州的理由是 “非蓄奴州对奴隶制的敌视”。

to the institution of slavery.”

In March 1861, the Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stevens,

1861年三月， 邦联副总统 亚历山大·史蒂芬斯宣称，

proclaimed that the cornerstone of the new Confederate government

新邦联政府的基石是白人至上，

was white supremacy, or as he put it,

或如他所说， “奴隶制”和对白人的“从属”

“slavery” and “subordination” to white people

was the “natural and normal condition” of Black people in America

是美国黑人的“自然正常状态”

and the “immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution.”

和“现在革命和后期破裂的直接原因”。

Three weeks after the now-infamous Cornerstone Speech,

臭名昭著的基石演讲过后三周，

the American Civil War began.

美国内战爆发。

The conflict lasted four years, had a death toll of about 750,000,

战争持续了4年，共死亡约75万人,

and ended with the Confederacy’s defeat.

以邦联的失败告终。

By 1866, barely a year after the war ended,

1866年，战争结束仅一年,

southern sources began claiming the conflict wasn’t actually about slavery.

南部开始声称内战无关乎奴隶制。

Meanwhile, Frederick Douglass,

期间，弗雷德里克·道格拉斯，

a prominent abolitionist and formerly enslaved person, cautioned,

著名的废奴主义者、前奴隶警告道，

“the spirit of secession is stronger today than ever.”

“现在的分裂精神是 前所未有的强烈。”

From the words of Confederate leaders,

照邦联的领导者们所言，

the reason for the war could not have been clearer— it was slavery.

内战的原因再清楚不过—— 就是奴隶制。

So how did this revisionist history come about?

那么，这段修正主义的历史 是如何产生的呢？

The answer lies in the Lost Cause— a cultural myth about the Confederacy.

答案在于“命定败局”—— 一个邦联的文化神话。

The term was coined by Edward Pollard, a pro-Confederate journalist.

这个词是亲邦联的记者 爱德华·波拉德所造。

In 1866, he published “The Lost Cause:

1866年，他发布了文章

A New Southern History of the War of the Confederates.”

“命定败局—— 邦联战争的新南方历史。”

Pollard pointed out that the U.S. Constitution gave states

波拉德指出，

除了明确指定为国家政府管辖的地区，

the right to govern themselves independently in all areas

except those explicitly designated to the national government.

美国宪法赋予各州在所有地区 独立自治的权利。

According to him, the Confederacy wasn’t defending slavery,

依他所言，邦联不是在捍卫奴隶制，

it was defending each state’s right to choose whether or not to allow slavery.

而是在捍卫每个州选择 是否允许奴隶制的权利。

This explanation effectively turned white southerners’ documented defense

这一解释有效地把南方白人 捍卫奴隶制和白人至上的记录

of slavery and white supremacy into a patriotic defense of the Constitution.

变成了捍卫宪法的爱国运动。

The Civil War had devastated the country,

内战蹂躏这个国家，

leaving those who had supported the Confederacy

使得那些支持邦联的人 急于为自己的行为辩护。

grasping to justify their actions.

Many pro-Confederate writers, political leaders, and others

许多支持邦联的作家、 政治领袖和其他人

were quick to adopt and spread the narrative of the Lost Cause.

很快采纳并传播了 “命定败局”这一叙述。

One organization, the United Daughters of the Confederacy,

其中一个组织， 邦联之女联合组织(UDC)，

played a key role in transmitting the ideas of the Lost Cause

在向后代传递命定败局理念方面 发挥了关键作用。

to future generations.

Founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1894,

UDC于1894年在田纳西州的 纳什维尔成立，

the UDC united thousands of middle and upper class white southern women.

联合了成千的南方中上层白人妇女。

The UDC raised thousands of dollars to build monuments to Confederate soldiers.

UDC筹集了数千美元 为邦联士兵建造纪念碑。

These were often unveiled with large public ceremonies,

这些纪念碑通常会在 大型公众仪式上揭面，

and given prominent placements, especially on courthouse lawns.

放置在显眼的位置， 尤其是在法院的草坪上。

The Daughters also placed Confederate portraits in public schools.

她们还在公立学校放置邦联的肖像。

They monitored textbooks to minimize the horrors of slavery,

她们监控教科书， 竭力减少 奴隶制的恐怖及其在内战中的意义，

and its significance in the Civil War,

passing revisionist history and racist ideology down through generations.

将修正主义历史和种族主义意识形态

代代相传。

By 1918, the UDC claimed over 100,000 members.

到了1918年，UDC已有超过10万成员。

As their numbers grew, they increased their influence outside the South.

随着人数的增长，她们 在南方以外的影响力也在增加。

Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson

威廉·霍华德·塔夫脱总统 和伍德罗·威尔逊总统，

both met with UDC members and enabled them to memorialize

都会见了UDC的成员。

并让她们在阿灵顿国家公墓纪念邦联。

the Confederacy in Arlington National Cemetery.

The UDC still exists and defends Confederate symbols

UDC仍然存在，捍卫着邦联的记号，

as part of a noble heritage of sacrifice by their ancestors.

作为她们祖先牺牲的部分高贵遗产。

Despite the wealth of primary sources

尽管有大量的原始资料表明 奴隶制是南北战争的根源，

showing that slavery was the root cause of the Civil War,

the myth about states’ rights persists today.

但有关各州权利的虚构说法 一直延续到今天。

In the aftermath of the war,

战后，弗雷德里克·道格拉斯 和同时代的废奴主义者

Frederick Douglass and his abolitionist contemporaries

feared this erasure of slavery from the history of the Civil War

担心将奴隶制从内战历史中抹去

could contribute to the government’s failure

可能使得政府不能保护 美国黑人的权利——

to protect the rights of Black Americans—

a fear that has repeatedly been proven valid.

这种担忧已多次被证为可信。

In an 1871 address at Arlington Cemetery, Douglass said:

1871年， 道格拉斯 在阿灵顿公墓发表演讲时说：

“We are sometimes asked in the name of patriotism

“我们有时被要求以爱国主义的名义

to forget the merits of this fearful struggle,

忘记这场可怕斗争的本质，

and to remember with equal admiration those who struck at the nation’s life,

以同样的钦佩之情记住那些 为国家的生命而战的人，

and those who struck to save it—

以及为拯救国家而战的人——

those who fought for slavery and those who fought for liberty and justice. [...]

为奴隶制而战的人， 为自由和正义而战的人。

if this war is to be forgotten, I ask in the name of all things sacred,

如果这场战争将被遗忘， 我以一切神圣之名提问，

what shall men remember?”

人们应记住什么？”