The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1896-10-07
SOUTHERN HISTORIES.

The following from the Greemvills,
Mountaineer meets with our heartieet
endorsement:
.sSchoo. histories are proverbiai!y up-
reliable and Incomplete. and children are
taught II nc that is defective and AZ :aT-
lance with the fac,s Especially has tins
beso the case with school histories since the
war, when they have undertaken TO a~s!
With the battles and Incidents copnec'ed win
the great struggle between the states Sec
tional prejudice has been potent factor IN
warping the stcry to sui, the authors train
ing and inclination. but 40 such condition
exists where school history of South Caro-
lica is prepared by one of our owo c't'zNns
and nence we are surprised to Ind defe:'s
aadinaccuraciea IN work DOW being used very
largely 10 oar schools. Chapmsn's schoo!
history of South Carolina needs 10 ne re-
v,sed before - second edi''on IS placed be-
fore the public, If only to correc' giarlne
omission in regard to :he First Battle ''
Manassas. The children will never Kr~"
from its contents thar Sloan Fourth Soon
Carolina Regiment bore the brunt OF the e"'
eaeement for sn hour or more IN tee morn
ing before re-iufercenents were sent, aoo
that Gen. n G. Evans was IN command OF
tho troops who opened the fight. Nor Will
they ASCERTAIN from i.s pages that toe Hamp-
ton Legion received its baptism OF hre on the
plains Of Manassas, while its gallant leader
was wounded in the thickest of the light
Other regiments are given the creolt Tor "t
inp on the field when the tart borne hy thetn
was quite ioconspicuous, aud the comma'ds
which suffered most, are left unhono7eo AMI
uusuag."
TIE histories now IN use are. with
out exception, both Inaccurate and
unfair toward the South. This mac
curacy and unfairness is not confined
to the narration of the events I'M
mediately preceding the war, dur
ing its progress and subsequent to
the surrender at Appomattox, but ex-
tends over the entire period from the
settlement at jamestown, Va. to
the present day The part taken by
the Northern States, New England in
particular, in the history of the
country is magni6ed out of all pro-
position, while the history Of the
Southern States is systematically ig-
nored and belittled. Trivial Indian
raids, when occurring in New Eng
land. are described with a minute
ness of detail that cannot fail to i'm
press the child mind, while events
occurring on Southern soil. of tenfold
more magnitude and incomparably
greater Importance historically by
reason of influences exerted on the
subsequent history of the country,
are either not referred to at all, or
dismissed with the most meagre men
ton.
The history of the South is Gil un-
known realm to the majority OF
Americans, few even Of our own
people, whose ancestors for genera
tions have dwe!t in the South and
have taken honorable parts in laying
the foundations of the government,
whose cornerstone is liberty, have a
clear conception and full apprecia-
ton of the dominant influence exert
ed by the South throughout the
formative period aud during the first
fifty years of the existence of the
United States, when it was and indie
pendent and pure democracy. And
more to be deplored is the fact that
much of the South's history is yet
unwritten and those who have full
and intimate knowledge are rapidly
passing away There is, however, a
vast amount of data available to es-
tablish the claims Of the South to
full and honorable recognition at the
hands of historians, and it is the
prime duty of the educators Of the
South to see that true and impartial
histories are provided for use in our
schools and colleges
Henry W. Grady was one South
erner who was thoroughly imbued
with knowledge of the South's his
tory and his appreciation of and
pride in our heritage was in proper
ton to his knowledge of the facts,
and to this was due much of his
boundles popularity while living and
causes his memory to be reverenced
still He delighted in speaking of