Searching for Stonewall Jackson

On January 30, 2020, Ben Cleary delivered the Banner Lecture, "Searching for Stonewall Jackson: A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America."
Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson was the embodiment of southern contradictions. He was a slaveowner who fought and died, at least in part, to perpetuate slavery, yet he founded an African American Sunday School and personally taught classes for almost a decade. For all his sternness and rigidity, Jackson was a deeply thoughtful and incredibly intelligent man. But his reputation and mythic status, then and now, was due to more than combat success. In a deeply religious age, he was revered for a piety that was far beyond the norm.
How did one man meld his religion with the institution of slavery? How did he reconcile it with the business of killing, at which he so excelled? In Searching for Stonewall Jackson, historian Ben Cleary examines not only Jackson's life, but his own, contemplating what it means to be a white southerner in the twenty-first century.
Now, as statues commemorating the Civil War are toppled and Confederate flags come down, Cleary walks the famous battlefields, following in the footsteps of his subject as he questions the legacy of Stonewall Jackson and the South's Lost Cause at a time when the contentions of politics, civil rights, and social justice are at a fever pitch.
Ben Cleary is a writer and teacher who lives in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He is the author of Searching for Stonewall Jackson: A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America.
The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

[@MayoFilms83]

My great great grandmother, is his 2nd cousin. Her first cousin is his mother Julia Beckwith Neale Woodson. I did two years of my research on her diary she lived in Missouri (Little Dixie) was there farm. They moved out there after the American Revolutionary War.

[@carywest9256]

Sir or Ma'am, l would like to clarify that The War for American lndependence was not a Revolution.For the patriots did not try to overthrow the British government. And as a sidenote, The War Between the States was not a civil war. The South seceded from the majority of the states of the federal government. And the South never attempted nor wanted to overthrow the government in Washington City as it known in that era. If you respond, l would gladly comment back at ya.

[@fatfeline1086]

@@carywest9256 So, when Jackson himself in his speech to his troops said that the war was our second revolution was he wrong? i dont think so. The govt in Washington City was not some seperate thing from the people. it was a Union of states the war plus later SC decisions settled these facts. Continued rebellious attitudes such as you express do not exactly cover your region of the country in glory. I'm a fan based on fascination with thier lives of both Jacskon and Sherman of all people (Grant too), but i never forget which side was correct, and it aint Jackson's. Too bad his first wife died and he was no longer so influenced by his first Union supporting Father in Law. If he still had been, he may well have saved the Valley for the Union and the foolish rebels there would not have undergo the purification by Sheridan et al.

[@CarltonPittman]

He was the best General by far no one else came near him he defeated a Yankee army three times his size no one else never came near to doing that he was so famous when he died nobody wanted to fight The Stonewall Brigade

[@savanahmclary4465]

Thomas Jackson was not afraid of death because he was a devout Christian. The more of a Relationship you have with God: The less fear you have. Yes, it is Spiritual. ... Your statements are some what mockery and disingenous. Even a fly would not drive a Prius. Do you know There was a law In the USA from Earliest days. That nothing was to occur from mid night on Saturday, until Sunday at mid night. It was the LAW that the "Sabbath" was to be HOLY! This was a law until 1973. And every one was REQUIRED to attend their Faith's service during this 24 hour period, or it was to be spent resting or with families.

[@ae1586]

He did not fight for slavery . He fought to defend his home and land from an invading army . The Morrill tariffs were the reason for the war . The south simply wanted to govern itself and seceded which was allowed under the 10th amendment. Happy birthday Thomas Jackson ! Deo vindice !

[@michaeljudge5089]

How differently you would feel had your ancestors been on a big southern plantation working as slaves. Read the South Carolina secessionist constitution sometime. And your “Lost Cause” myth has been annihilated by great historians like James MacPhereson.

[@hlysnan6418]

Ba-loney. Give it a rest.

[@Skywalker-u6c]

That’s terrible about that young girl

[@robertdubois2917]

Bull. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Fraud. This guy is so full of manure its coming out of his mouth. Supposition. Speculation. Without an infetesimal amount of proof..

[@michaeljudge5089]

This guy is horrible.cc

[@steveg1481]

Why?