Devil with a blue dress on? Using primary sources and corroboration to determine the facts surrounding the capture of Jefferson Davis.

Kenneth V. Anthony, Mississippi State University

Emma L. O'Connor, DeKalb County Schools

National Council for the Social Studies Conference

Nashville, TN

December 2023

Slides: https://padlet.com/knnthanthony/jefferson-davis-powerpoint-cvv8hh5gc5y22uoy

1.      Disinformation is a threat to our democracy and our students individually.

2.      One model and one process (Wineburg, 1991)

a.         Model: Historical Thinking Heuristics

i.     Sourcing

ii.     Contextualization

iii.     Corroboration

iv.     Close reading

b.        Process: Primary Source Analysis (ORQ) https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/getting-started-with-primary-sources/guides/

i.     Observe

ii.     Reflect

iii.     Question

3.      Primary source accounts of the capture of Jefferson Davis

a.         A “so called president” in petticoats https://www.loc.gov/item/2008661797/

b.        Jeff’s Soliloquy to be or not to be (hanged) that’s the question https://www.loc.gov/item/2019635451/

c.         Jeff’s last skedaddle off to the last ditch https://www.loc.gov/item/2008661833/

d.        How is Davis portrayed and why?”

 

3. Evaluating the messages

a. Sourcing

a. Who is the artist?

b. What is the artist’s purpose?

c. Who is the audience?

b. Contextualizing

a. What is this event?

b. What else is going on at this time?

c. What has recently happened?

c. Corroboration

d. What do these media accounts have in common?

4.      Quick context

a.         Time

i.     APRIL 2, 1865- Jefferson Davis and most of Confederate government evacuate Richmond, VA.

ii.     APRIL 9, 1865- Robert. E. Lee surrenders to U.S. Grant at Appomattox

iii.      APRIL 15, 1865- Lincoln Assassinated

iv.      MAY 5, 1865- Davis dissolves the Confederate government at Washington, GA

v.     MAY 10, 1865- Davis captured near Irwinville, GA

b.        Place

i.     Jefferson Davis Capture Site 31.6633, 83.3860 338 Jeff Davis Park Road

Fitzgerald, Georgia, 31750 United States

ii.     South Georgia

c.         On location

i.     How is the event characterized on the historical markers?

 

 5.      Corroboration

a.         How is the event described or characterized in other documents (primary and secondary)?

b.        Primary sources

i.     The last act of the drama of secession https://www.loc.gov/item/2008661829/

ii.     Jefferson Davis account from A Short History of the Confederate States, 1889

iii.     Accounts from soldiers in the First Wisconsin who were present at his capture http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbum.7689c_0562_0578

iv.     General U.S. Grant

c.         Secondary sources

i.     On this day in history

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jefferson-davis-captured

ii.     America’s Library (Library of Congress) http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_jeffdav_1.html

iii.     American Heritage

Fall 2010  Volume 60 Issue 3

https://www.americanheritage.com/was-jefferson-davis-captured-dress#4

d.        Artifacts

I.                                                     National Archives had possession of Davis’s spurs, raincoat, and shawl until they were                             returned to the heirs who gave them to the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library in                                     Biloxi, MS

https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2015/09/29/the-national-archives-and-jefferson-davis-cloak-shawl-and-spurs/ 

6.      Evaluating the messages

a.      Sourcing

a. Who is the artist?

b. What is the artist’s purpose?

c. Who is the audience?

b. Contextualizing

a. What is this event?

b. What else is going on at this time?

c. What has recently happened?

c. Corroboration

d. What do these media accounts have in common?

 

7.      Getting the facts straight

a.         What are the facts we know about the capture of Jefferson Davis?

b.        What have we learned about how history is written or presented?

c.         What have we learned about how media accounts can be misleading, wrong, or distorted?

d.        Who pushed the misleading narrative about Davis’s capture?

e.         How can we use multiple sources (including primary and secondary sources) to corroborate the details about historical events and media accounts?

8.  Conclusion

a.         The media accounts of Davis’s capture demonstrate how the press, the government, and others can create and push a false narrative.

b.        Schools can help combat the

spread of disinformation.

c.         Students can use historical thinking skills to evaluate media narratives and avoid accepting disinformation as fact.

Foreign influence operations—which include covert actions by foreign governments to influence U.S. political sentiment or public discourse—are not a new problem. But the interconnectedness of the modern world, combined with the anonymity of the Internet, have changed the nature of the threat and how the FBI and its partners must address it. The goal of these foreign influence operations directed against the United States is to spread disinformation, sow discord, and, ultimately, undermine confidence in our democratic institutions and values.

https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence/foreign-influence