Virginia Clay-Clopton

Virginia Clay-Clopton (1825–1915), wacce aka fi sani da Virginia Tunstall, Virginia Clay, da Mrs. Clement Claiborne Clay, 'yar asalin Amurka ce mai masaukin baki, mai fafutuka, kuma mai ra'ayin jama'a. Ta ɗauki nauyin ayyuka daban-daban bayan Yaƙin Basasa na Amurka . A matsayinta na matar Sanata Clement Claiborne Clay na Amurka daga Alabama, tana cikin ƙungiyar matasa 'yan kudu waɗanda suka yi tafiya tare a Washington, DC musamman a otal-otal. A lokacin bayan yaƙin, ta yi aiki don samun 'yancin mijinta daga ɗaurin kurkuku a Fort Monroe, inda aka tsare Jefferson Davis, tsohon shugaban ƙasar Confederate States of America .

A ƙarshen ƙarni na 19, Clay-Clopton (wadda ta sake yin aure bayan mijinta na farko ya mutu) ta zama mai fafutuka a cikin United Daughters of the Confederacy, wata ƙungiya da aka kafa bayan Yaƙin Basasa wadda ta taka muhimmiyar rawa wajen haɓaka labarin Lost Cause . Ta yi aiki don tara kuɗi don makabartun Confederate da wuraren tunawa da kuma yin kamfen don zaɓen mata. Clay-Copton tana ɗaya daga cikin mata da yawa na Kudu da suka buga tarihin rayuwarta a farkon ƙarni na 20; waɗannan labaran mata sun zama wani ɓangare na tattaunawar jama'a game da yaƙin. Ƙungiyar 'Yan Matan Confederacy ta ba da shawarar littafinta a matsayin ɗaya daga cikin uku don tattaunawa mai mahimmanci ta membobinta.

 Rayuwar farko 
An haifi Virginia Caroline Tunstall a shekarar 1825 a gundumar Nash, North Carolina . Iyayenta sune Anne Arrington da Dr. Peyton Randolph Tunstall. "Henry Watkins Collier", Alabama Archives and History, accessed 19 May 2012
'Yan uwan mahaifiyarta da yawa sun yi renon ta bayan mahaifiyarta ta rasu lokacin da Virginia ke da shekaru uku. Mahaifinta ya bar ta tare da dangin mahaifiyarta ya koma Alabama. Ta fara zama tare da Drakes a North Carolina. A Belle of the Fifties: Memoirs of Mrs. Clay, of Alabama, Covering Social and Political Life in Washington and the South, 1853-66, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905, c1904, full online text available at Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina 

Tana da shekaru shida, an kai Virginia zuwa Tuscaloosa, Alabama, inda ta zauna tare da goggon mahaifiyarta da mijinta Henry W. Collier, wanda daga baya aka naɗa shi a Kotun Koli ta Jiha.  A shekara ta 1837 aka naɗa shi babban alkali. Fiye da shekaru goma bayan haka, a shekara ta 1849 aka zaɓe shi da gagarumin rinjaye a matsayin gwamnan jihar, kuma ya yi aiki na wa'adi biyu. 

Bayan shekaru huɗu, goggon Virginia tana fama da rashin lafiya. Virginia ta tafi ta zauna tare da kawunta na uwa, Alfred Battle, da iyalansa a gonarsu da ke wajen Tuscaloosa. An koyar da Virginia amma kuma tana da lokaci mai tsawo don yin wasa da 'yan uwanta da kuma kula da kadarorin.  A wannan lokacin, ta kusaci ɗan'uwan mahaifinta, Thomas B. Tunstall, sakataren jiha na Alabama, wanda ya ɗauke ta a ƙarƙashinsa, yana gabatar da ita ga adabi, waƙoƙi da kiɗa.

Tare da kawunta Thomas, ta ziyarci mahaifinta a Mobile, Alabama, inda mazan Tunstall guda biyu suka kai Virginia gidan wasan kwaikwayo da sauran abubuwan da suka faru.  Tana da kimanin shekaru 15, an tura ta zuwa Kwalejin Mata da ke Nashville, Tennessee, don kammala karatunta a wata makarantar 'yan mata masu zaman kansu. A matsayinta na babban birnin, Tuscaloosa birni ne mai yawan mutane 6,000, kuma ya jawo hankalin mutane daga ko'ina cikin jihar, yana haifar da tarurrukan zamantakewa masu daɗi. 

 Aure da iyali 
Tunstall ta auri Clement Claiborne Clay, lauya kuma matashiyar 'yar majalisa, wacce ta haɗu da ita a gidan kawunta Henry Collier . An yi musu aure cikin sauri bayan dawowarta daga Kwalejin Mata kuma suka yi aure wata guda bayan haka a ranar 1 ga Fabrairu, 1843; tana da shekaru 18 kuma yana da shekaru 27.   Ta ƙaura tare da shi zuwa Huntsville, Alabama, inda iyalinsa suke. A shekara ta 1849, an zaɓi kawunta Henry Collier gwamnan Alabama.

Lokacin da majalisar dokoki ta zaɓe mijinta a matsayin sanata a Amurka a shekarar 1853, Virginia Clay ta tafi tare da shi zuwa Washington, DC A cikin jirgin ƙasa sun haɗu da wasu mutane da yawa daga jihar waɗanda za su kasance cikin Majalisar Dokoki da gwamnati, suna ƙulla abota mai ɗorewa. A babban birnin, sun kasance wani ɓangare na rayuwar zamantakewa ta siyasa ta manyan mutane. A lokacin hunturu na farko, Clay ta haifi ɗanta tilo, wanda ya mutu jim kaɗan bayan haka. Cikin shekara guda, ta shiga cikin abubuwan da suka faru a birnin.

A cikin jerin liyafar cin abinci, Virginia Clay ta haɗu da sauran 'yan majalisar dokoki da matansu da kuma membobin ƙungiyar diflomasiyya da gwamnatin Shugaba Franklin Pierce . A cikin waɗannan shekarun a Washington, ita da mijinta da sauran 'yan Kudu da yawa sun zauna a Otal ɗin Brown da ke kan titin Pennsylvania. Na wasu lokutan hunturu, sun ƙaura zuwa Otal ɗin Ebbitt, amma sun koma Brown's, inda abokansu da yawa suka zauna a lokacin zaman majalisar. Otal ɗin ya kasance wani ƙarin lokaci na rayuwarsu ta zamantakewa. 

 Yaƙin Basasa 
Da karuwar tashin hankali kan bambance-bambancen sashe, Alabama ta balle daga Tarayyar, kuma Clays ta koma jihar. Clement Claiborne Clay ya wakilci jiharsa a majalisar dokokin Confederate, kuma ma'auratan sun ƙaura zuwa babban birnin Richmond, Virginia .

 Shekarun bayan yaƙi 
Clement Clay da matarsa Virginia suna cikin 'yan Kudu da aka tsare a Fort Monroe bayan yaƙin; ana zarginsu da hannu a cikin makircin kisan gillar da aka yi wa Shugaba Abraham Lincoln . Haka kuma a wannan gidan yarin akwai Jefferson Davis, abokinsu kuma tsohon shugaban ƙungiyar Confederacy. Sun zama abokai na kud da kud a wannan lokacin. Varina Howell Davis ta kan ziyarci mijinta, tana kawo ƙaramar 'yarsu. An saki Clays a shekarar 1866, amma ba a sake Davis ba sai a shekarar 1867. Iyalan sun ci gaba da tuntuɓar juna bayan da Clays suka koma Huntsville, Alabama.

A wannan lokacin, ana kyautata zaton Jefferson Davis ya kamu da soyayya da Virginia Clay, yana ta yaɗa labarai masu daɗi da ita tsawon shekaru uku. A shekara ta 1871, jaridu a faɗin ƙasar sun ruwaito cewa an gan shi a cikin jirgin ƙasa tare da wata mace da ba a san ko ta wanene ba, kuma lamarin ya jawo masa hankalin da ba a so. 

Mijin Virginia Clay, Clement, ya mutu a shekarar 1882. A shekarar 1887, ta auri Alkali David Clopton, kuma aka san ta da Mrs. Clay-Clopton. Ya rasu a shekarar 1892.

A cikin waɗannan shekarun, Virginia Clay-Clopton ta fara aiki a cikin ƙungiyar mata ta zaɓe da kuma ƙungiyar United Daughters of the Confederacy, wadda aka kafa a 1894. Tun daga ƙungiyoyin mata da ke shirya jana'iza da kuma tunawa da matattu na Confederacy, rassan sun girma cikin sauri zuwa ƙarni na 20, lokacin da membobinsu suka kai ɗaruruwan dubban mutane.  Ayyukan UDC da shiga tsakani a cikin abubuwan da ke cikin littattafan karatu sun ƙarfafa tunawa da ra'ayin jama'a game da Yaƙin Basasa. 

A shekarar 1904, Clay-Clopton ta buga wani littafi mai suna A Belle in the Fifties, wanda ya ba da labarin rayuwarta tun daga lokacin ƙuruciya har zuwa lokacin da aka tsare ta a Fort Monroe. Wannan littafi yana ɗaya daga cikin littattafan tarihi guda uku da UDC ta ba da shawarar a yi amfani da su wajen zama memba na ƙungiyar don yin nazari mai zurfi, tare da na Sara Agnes Rice Pryor da Louise Wigfall Wright. 

A shekarun bayan yaƙi, wasu daga cikin littattafan farko na matan Kudu sun kasance tarihi ko tarihin rayuwar mutane na tarihi, kamar na Varina Davis na mijinta. UDC ta ƙarfafa mata su rubuta labaransu. Irin waɗannan littattafan tarihi sun zama wani ɓangare na tattaunawar jama'a game da yaƙin, don haka an san rawar da mata suka taka da sadaukarwarsu. Bayanansu game da al'ummar da ta gabata sun zama wani ɓangare na tarihin da aka tsara. A farkon ƙarni, an buga littattafan tarihi goma sha biyu na matan Kudu.

An binne Clay-Clopton a makabartar Maple Hill da ke Huntsville, Alabama, kusa da mijinta na farko.

 Manazarta 

Rukuni:Matattun 1915
Rukuni:Haifaffun 1825
Rukuni:Shafuka masu fassarorin da ba'a duba ba