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A person portraying a slave stands on the auction block as an auctioneer asks for bids during a re-enactment of a mid-19th century slave auction January 15, 2011 in downtown St. Louis, Mo. Some 150 re-enactors participated in the mock-auction on the steps of the city's Old Courthouse, as the first commemorative event in Missouri marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. With other sesquicentennial events in the South emphasizing "states rights" as the cause of the conflict, organizers in St. Louis said they wanted to stress slavery as the central issue of the war. Before the war, St. Louis, with its location on the Mississippi River, had been a primary hub for the sale and movement of slaves. The U.S. Civil War, which lasted from 1861-1865, resulted in the death of more than 600,000 Americans, more than in all of the country's other wars combined.
John Moore / Getty Images
A person portraying a blacksmith inspects a "slave" during a re-enactment of a mid-19th century slave auction Jan. 15, in downtown St. Louis, Mo.
John Moore / Getty Images
Slave re-enactor Jannett White is led off in shackes after being "auctioned" during a re-enactment of a mid-19th century slave auction January 15, 2011 in downtown St. Louis, Mo.
John Moore/Getty Images
A demonstrator protests ahead of a re-enactment of a slave auction, saying the event was demeaning to African Americans on Jan. 15, in downtown St. Louis, Mo.
John Moore / Getty Images
Victoria Thomas sings the African-American slave song "Lord, How Come Me Here?" after taking part in a re-enactment of a mid-19th century slave auction Jan. 15, in downtown St. Louis, Mo.
John Moore / Getty Images
Re-enactors embrace after staging a re-enactment of a mid-19th century slave auction Jan. 15, in downtown St. Louis, Mo.
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I find Civil War enactments to be ridiculous! Especially when they are celebrating something that needs to be forgotten, or at least remembered as a dark time in our history . They serve no purpose except to bring back hurtful, hateful memories.
They are important to have. We need to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly of the history that makes us US. The reenactment isn't "celebrating" slavery, it is a reminder of a place that we went (unfortunately) and should be careful not to go to again. And it is a reminder that slavery still exists in many countries (and yes, we still have slavery here in the U.S. with young runaways being captured by pimps and forced to prostitute themselves, and a host of other scenarios) and we should fight it tooth and nail.
We must also remember that these slaves were bought from African tribes (they were prisoners). So for a few shinny trinkets they went from a black owner to a white owner.
It's educational for everyone.
Gross!!
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. I think such historical reenactments (not just Civil War, but War World II and the Revolutionary War) are educational and should be embraced by all school systems as means to teach history.
It is very educational. My grandchildren play with a mix of different children. They don't seem to notice the color or defects in the friends. But along the way of growing up they need to understand how it was in our history and how lucky they are today. I think it teaches them that things can change for the good and they can be a part of the change.
I think it's repulsive and unnecessary. We have many adequate history books and classes to teach of those atrocities. If it's so "educational", why not go ahead and re-inact the German death camps, gas chambers, and incinerators. I am a born and bred Southerner, but I have never understood why the south continues to glorify a losing cause in the darkest period of our history. Let it go already!
To be fair, the point of this event was very explicitly NOT to glorify the South or the institution of slavery -- quite the opposite, in fact. Note the story:
I'm a born and bred Southerner, too. Descended from Missouri slaveholders, in fact. And I think this event's organizers' intentions were dead-on right. I'm just not sure how well this works as an educational methods. Much depends on how the event was organized and presented, which isn't entirely clear in the photo essay.
i don't think the civil war era was the darkest period in our history. we were a young, strong, developing country. change was needed, people fought that change-just as they do today-and while some things changed, others didn't. people talk about how the plight of black people was made so much easier after the war, that black people were FREE and while it's true they were free, why were they still not allowed to drink from the same fountian as white children as late as the 60's?? honestly, step forward to the 50's and 60's and even the 70's. being free as defined by the civil war is not being accepted.
right!! and as soon as the last holocaust surviver dies we can just tell the story out of a book...good idea!! we can tear down the death camps and build nice new homes there, and just plain wash the truth with a lot of bull@!$%# and water down the truth!!! you have a great idea
Deleted -- double posted.
Everybody's too clean.
Also, long-haired dude in Picture 2 wearing a bracelet and pierced earrings? Might wanna rethink your antebellum fashion styling.
It's called 'living history'. If we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. I'm sure the naysayers also watch historical movies...what's the difference?
I am proud of my city- St. Louis- for being brave enough to do this. I am very impressed with the reenactors and admire their courage. A re-enactment is a powerful way to bring history to life. We, as a country need to stop sugar-coating our past. By bringing it into the light we heel. St. Louis still has issues with racism. Hopefully this will make white people remember the atrocities so that we can move forward with compassion. African American young people need to see the sacrifices their ancestors made so that their descendants could have full rights to freedom and a decent education.
I congratulate all the courageous re-enactors at this event. I am tired of "Secession Balls". We need to remember what this fight was really about and this does.
I think this is a fantastic way to remind everyone what the Civil War was really about. Some apologists try to frame the cause of the war as a states' rights struggle. Everyone needs to remember that it was a war about whether states had the right to hold slaves.
Excellent way to bring historical events to present reality. This would not be necessary if we didn't see glorification of "states rights" still to this day. For those of us who remember, Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrats advocated states' rights, as did supporters of Jim Crow throughout the South in the 1950s and 1960s, and the present governor of Texas has supported nullification, the legal theory that was precursor to the Civil War of 150 years ago. As the book Founding Brothers shows so well, the compromise with slave states needed to form the union laid this curse on us, leaving the nation half slave and half free (Virginia was the "California" of its day, as the dominant economy in the new nation). History is embedded in the present and in present conflicts; the very existence of the Senate owes itself to the compromise with small states and with slavery.
It's so amazing to me...when ever these reenactment are done, it say to be and educational tool...I find that to me amazing...
Who really is being education? What can one learn from having ones' heritage stolen...
It's not necessary to go into such depth of history. We can learn about it and not repeat it through other means besides such reenactments. It's time to pay attention to the Present and develop a healthy Future based on the long ago and recent Past. Reenactments and such DO glorify the events by bringing toooooo much attention to them.
It WAS a time in our ANCESTORS lives, it IS past us, we have changed, and as a wise man said, do not forget your history, or your doomed to repeat it!!
I think this was a GREAT idea. This helps us all to remember "Who we are" as a people. Sure slavery happened; but it was for a reason.
Deuteronomy 28:68
And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy [you]. Slavery reminds us that we "the slaves" are The Most Highs chosen people.
You are so right...CardHouseCrew.
We are the Chosen People Of The High...
Such events can help us see the ugly side of the past -- the horrors of slavery, and those that allowed it to exist, from Charleston to St. Louis, and even from Boston to California.
Learn more: The Great Heart of the Republic: St. Louis and the Cultural Civil War -- available now!
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to see what really happened to people such a short time ago in this country was moving. my family didn't arrive in the great nation until the late 1800's. while my ancestors were in Europe during the civil war, i'm sure i had cousins that were Nazi's as my family was from Germany. i would hate for the world to forget the evil that they were responsible for. in the past people were made to be sub-human that made it easier to be evil to a entire race. listen to the politicians of today and how they are beginning to do the same thing. they try to make their opponents to seem less of a human. wake up
People need to stop trying to forget the past,they try to erase it from the history books or they barely touch on the subject,yes it was a bad time in our country bad things happened to alot of good people but forgetting it is not gonna help people to understand the reasons things happened the way they did.
Confederate flags are offensive, but a slave auction is OK??? Totally ass-backwards... Absolutely disgusting...
As a Historian I can't tell you how many rolled-eyes and vacant looks I get whenever I start to talk about the past but the minute the events are put in a visual form that others can see, feel and even experience, themselves, their interest is right there. You'll never hear me criticizing book learning - indeed, it remains a mainstay for all who would know History - but the impact that reenactments make on people's ability to *relate* to past events and to understand that History didn't just happen in a book, it happened to real, living people is an invaluable teaching tool. Why do you think period movies are so popular??
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Well, that gives me another reason to never visit St. Louis. How dare they! What, would ya'll like to bring back the practice? How stupid and racist. No wonder America can't get her act together.
So.... Shall we start planning the 9/11 reenactment next?