How Has the U.S. Handled POW History?
Historical Preservation and Memory
The creation and utilization of prisoner of war camps during the Civil War was very utilitarian, much like the culture at the time. Most of the camps were constructed out of pre-existing warehouses made for military use. Because most of the POW camps existed in the South, the —Confederate states— after the war most camps were quickly converted back to military facilities. Civil War POW camps were quickly swept away. Despite the visual disappearance, there has been a lasting effort to never forget what took place.
The offenses of camps such as Andersonville were a traumatic and a harrowing part of the war to have survived. Songs were a primary carrier of the history of the POW camps. The song in Figure 1 directly connects to Andersonville and its memory with the song titled, "We can never forget it." The song expresses attitudes and remorse of the time. For those outside of the South, memories of the Civil War, especially Andersonville, are mostly forgotten yet the music lives on.
Artistry of the era holds attitudes, values, and imagination of the time period. The picture in Figure 2, “Battles of the Rebellion” depicts a battle scene with symbolic imagery reflecting the harrowing ideals of the Civil War and what it meant to U.S. citizens in the 1800’s. Artistic propaganda was one of the primary ways the Civil War was promoted, as well as a primary way in which the United States remembers the history.
Historically POW camps in the United States have been sidelined. The horrific and inhumane treatments during the Civil War strike a chord in the U.S. as ideas around identity and accountability affect modern day understandings of the American identity. Because of this, POW camps are rarely taught about in U.S. history classes. In modern years the U.S. has made efforts to preserve historical landmarks— POW camp sites and Civil War cemeteries. These efforts have still yet to make it to the classroom.
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Ever since the war ended there have been efforts to never forget the atrocities that took place. There have been landmarks, art, and music since before the POW camps were officially closed. The creativity in commemorating the hardship U.S. soldiers endured remains. There are multiple National Parks that tell the history of Civil War Prisoner of War Camps. The U.S. National Parks Service is the main proponent for keeping Civil War POW history alive and preserved.
The issue with how the U.S. has handled this history lies in location. All of the Civil War POW camps were located either in the South of the United States or along the East Coast. Most of the Midwest and all of the West of the U.S. are isolated from these historical sites which are the only staunch points of education on the topic. Civil War POW camps history has not made it to the U.S. public school classroom. Therefore, the only education about POW camps is elective, or convenience, due to a geographical proximity to the camps location. The U.S. has not overtly sheltered the gruesome history of POW camps during the Civil War but it has covertly, through systematic decisions —or lack thereof— to present this history.
Lastly, due to the fact that much of the POW camps preserved belonged to the Confederates, and are located in the South, there is little talk of it as the history is an ugly reminder of the South's failure to the immediate community living there.
