Name: ______________________
Date: _______________
APUSH Extra Credit Q2
Reading Guide for
Confederates in the Attic
Directions: Below, you will find questions for each chapter that will help you think about the messages
within Confederates in the Attic that will help you better understand the causes and long-term consequences of
the Civil War, as the way the Civil War is remembered in some segments of contemporary Southern society.
Submit the answers to all of the questions through Turnitin.com by January 6th at 11:59 PM. No late assignments,
plagiarized assignments, or incomplete assignments will be considered. Based on the validity of the answers given,
students can earn up to 3 points on their average.
Chapter 1:
1.
2.
3.
Who are the "Hardcores" and why does Horwitz refer to their beliefs as "fundamentalism?" Who are the
"farbs" and why are the "Hardcores" critical of them?
Who is Robert Lee Hodge and what did you learn about the Civil War through his eyes?
What were the "border states" during the Civil War? Explain their significance.
Chapter 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why do you think the Confederate prisoner of war (POW) camps like Salisbury were so awful?
Horowitz asks Tarlton why he thinks his Southern ancestors fought in the Civil War. What was his answer
and why is his answer so important to understanding both the Civil War and this book?
Describe your reaction to the "truths" taught to the Children of the Confederacy in their "Catechism."
What is the Mason-Dixon Line? Why is it important?
Chapter 3:
1.
2.
What did you learn in Chapter 3 about life in and around Charleston for whites and slaves before the Civil
War?
In this chapter, you first learn about the Neo-Confederates. What are their views about the Civil War?
Below is some general information about the Neo-Confederates, BUT this question focuses upon what
you specifically learned in this chapter about the movement.
Neo-Confederate Movement - Neo-Confederates believe that with the Civil War, Lincoln was able to expand the
power of the federal government beyond constitutional limits, and that with the defeat of the Confederacy the
ideals of states' rights were defeated. They believe that the 14th Amendment was illegally adopted. To them this
has resulted in the growth of federal government into a Leviathan, a very large monstrous beast in the bible. The
neo-Confederate historical worldview encompasses all of American history, not just the Civil War, Reconstruction,
and the South. The American Revolution in particular has a prominent place. Neo-Confederate writings on the
subject work to define original intentions to justify both current political beliefs and the actions of their historical
heroes, such as secession. M.E. Bradford wrote several books on the American Revolution. In this historical view
big government, integration and Brown vs. Brown, gay rights, civil rights, feminism, minorities, taxes, FDR, and
other issues can be viewed as the result of the American Republic jumping the tracks during the Civil War and
being out of control. The neo-Confederates seek to capitalize on discontent with these issues. For an outstanding,
contemporary understanding of the movement, see the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report,
"Rebels with a Cause,"
at http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp
?aid=249
Chapter 4:
1. What did you learn in this chapter about the
current controversies surrounding flying the Confederate
flag a public places?
2. What did you learn about current racial issues in
South Carolina in this chapter? How do you think these
contemporary issues are related to the causes and
consequences of the Civil War?
3. What do you think is the Confederate flag really
about - "heritage" or hate?
Chapter 5:
1.
2.
3.
What does "The Rebels" school mascot controversy tell you about the Southerns and the Civil War?
Why do you think the Ku Klux Klan is still popular in Todd County, Tennessee?
What does the story about Michael Westerman before, during, and after his shooting tell you about the
effects of the Civil War on contemporary society?
Chapter 6:
1.
Why do you think there are less Yankee/Northern Civil War reenactors than there are
Confederate/Southern reenactors?
Chapter 7:
1.
2.
3.
Who is Shelby Foote and why did Horwitz want to interview him?
Who does Shelby Foote blame for the racial problems that arose in the South after Reconstruction?
Horwitz mentions the "Lost Cause." After reading the chapter and the explanation below, explain the Lost
Cause Myth in your own words. And what it is motivated by,
Chapter 8:
1.
2.
Horwitz learns that "Shiloh had two pasts: the actual battle, and its remembrance by those who fought
there." What do you think this means?
What sort of revisionist interpretations of the Civil War does
Horwitz learn about in this chapter?
Chapter 9:
1.
In this chapter, what did you find to be the most interesting topic
related to the Civil War about Vicksburg, Mississippi?
Chapter 10:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Horwitz describes the First and Second Manassas battles as well as a
later contemporary battle. What was that battle and what does it
tell you about America's memories of the Civil War?
What did Horwitz learn about the Civil War during his "wargasm"
with Robert Lee Hodge?
What was the contemporary controversy around Richmond’s
Monument Avenue (see link for help:
http://www.monumenthouse.com/richmond/monument/)?
How does Byrd define a "Confederate-American?" Do you agree that the Confederates only wanted to be
left alone - that their decision to leave the Union was not about slavery? Explain your answer.
Chapter 11:
1.
What new information did you learn about the Neo-Confederates in this chapter?
Chapter 12:
1.
2.
3.
Horwitz wonders why many of the women he met in his travels "were so obsessed with the war's
prisoners" - an obsession generally not shared by men. What did he learn?
Why did the North stop prisoner exchanges with the South during the middle of the Civil War?
What did you learn about Andersonville in this chapter?
Chapter 13: no questions
Chapter 14:
1.
2.
After reading so far, do you agree with Roxie's statement to Horwtiz that in Southern society in general,
"...we teach that slavery wasn't that big a deal in terms of causing the war."
Did you find anything surprising about the classroom conversation between Horwitz, Rose Sanders, and
her students during Horwitz's visit to Selma? How did that classroom experience compare and contrast
with his experience with students in Greenville?
Chapter 15 and general concluding questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Horwitz writes that everywhere he went in his journey, "People spoke of family and fortunes lost in the
War; of their nostalgia for a time when the South seemed a cohesive region upholding Christian values
and agrarian ways." Provide examples throughout the book to support this finding.
Horwitz writes "For many southerners I'd met, remembrances of the War had become a talisman against
modernity, an emotional lever for their reactionary politics." Do you think he proves this point in his
book? Provide specific examples of how he does or does not.
Do you agree with the reenactors Horwitz meets throughout the book that they are "living historians?"
Provide evidence from the book to support your answer.
Using evidence from the book, why do you think the Civil War is still so alive and well in the South?
Horwitz remarks in Chapter 10 "As so often on my journey, I was reminded that what I thought I knew
about the War was based more on romance than fact." Explain why this is true with specific examples
from the book.
What does Horwitz means when he writes, "I'd...seen how poisonous and polarized memory of the past
had become" during the course of his journey throughout the south?