ETIQUETTE AND BIGOTRY

Two events occurred on the 9^th April, seventy four years apart, reflecting the intransigence of certain parts of American society; perhaps not just American society, but a certain group of people who see themselves as coming from and belonging to a particular class. This class of person seems to exist at the centre of most cultures, or rather see itself as the centre. They are the guardians and upholders of the foundations of nations. They see there origins and history so linked with the formations of nations, that they see it as their duty to rigidly control the formalities, protocols, behaviour and etiquette of the country. What is and is not done matters, for without their attention to duty the whole edifice risks falling down. These ‘rules’ are indeed very similar even amongst very different nations. They are not to be confused with the rule of law, but it is felt that without them, the rule of law doesn’t stand much of a chance.

The first event occurred on Palm Sunday the 9^th of April 1865.  Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The two generals met shortly after noon on 9^th April at the home of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all United States forces, hastened the conclusion of the Civil War. In the weeks following, other Confederate forces surrendered, and Confederate President Jefferson was captured and the bloody fighting that began in the corn fields of Manassas, Virginia in July 1861 finally came to a close. Over 600,000 were killed.

  

General Lee remarked on the morning of the 9th "It would be useless and therefore cruel to provoke the further effusion of blood, and I have arranged to meet with General Grant with a view to surrender."

There had been an exchange of notes:

Sunday April 9, 1865: 
General- I received your note of this morning, on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your preposition of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army.
 I now request an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
R. E. Lee, General.

Gen. R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies.


Your note of this date is set this moment, 11:50 A.M., received.
 In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburgh road to the Farmville and Lynchburgh road, I am at this writing about four miles West of Walter's church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you.
Notice sent to me, on this road, where you wish the interview to take place, will meet me.
 Very respectfully, your ob'd't servant, 
U.S. Grant, 
Lieutenant-General

Court House, April 9, 1865.


General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A.:


In accordance with the substance of my letters to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit:


Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate.


The officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands.


The arms, artillery and public property to be packed an stacked and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them.


This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage.


This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they reside.


Very respectfully,


U.S. Grant, Lieutenant-General.

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,


April 9, 1865


Lieut. Gen. U.S. Grant, Commanding U.S.A.:


General: I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of surrender of the army of northern Virginia, as proposed by you; As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry stipulations late effect.


Very Respectfully,

Your Obedient Servant,

R. E. Lee, General.

Note the chivalry and good manners between the Generals; the acceptance that the surrender of arms  and weapons would, of course, not include the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage, and that each man giving his parole could return home, not to be disturbed by United States authority, as if nothing had happened. This is indeed "La Grande Illusion".

This war, fought for a variety of illusions, was - from a propagandist's point of view - originally  fought to free the slaves, to emancipate mankind, the recognition that all men are created equal. Yet on the 9th April 1939, near the beginning of another holocaust, singer Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Marian Anderson

Lincoln Memorial Concert 1939

Constitution Hall

As a result of the ensuing furor, thousands of DAR members, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned. The Roosevelts, with Walter White, then-executive secretary of the NAACP, and Anderson's manager, impresario Sol Hurok, then persuaded Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes to arrange an open air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The concert was performed on Easter Sunday, April 9, and Anderson was accompanied, per usual, by Vehanen. They began the performance with a dignified and stirring rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. The event attracted a crowd of more than 75,000 of all colours and was a sensation with a national radio audience of millions. Marian Anderson died on the 8th April, 1993 at the age of 96.

The National Society of the DAR is the final arbiter of the acceptability of all applications for membership. Membership in DAR is open to women who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving United States independence. Acceptable ancestors include various related categories of known historical figures, including:

▪   Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence;

▪   Military veterans of the American Revolutionary War, including State navies and militias, local militias, privateers, and French or Spanish soldiers and sailors who fought in the American theater of war;

▪   Civil servants of provisional or State governments, Continental Congress and State conventions and assemblies;

▪   Signers of Oaths of Allegiance or Oath of Fidelity and Support;

▪   Participants in the Boston Tea Party;

▪   Prisoners of war, refugees, and defenders of fortresses and frontiers; doctors and nurses who aided Revolutionary casualties; and ministers, petitioners;

▪   Others who gave material or patriotic support to the Revolutionary cause.

The DAR now claims it does not discriminate on race or religion. Women with a provable blood line to revolutionary ancestors are eligible for membership.

Now isn't that nice.
Have a listen to this You Tube entry - I think it might amuse - Enough said.