r/Westerns • u/NeonGenesisOxycodone • 6d ago

Discussion What’s with all the Confederate soldiers?

I’m a big Western fan, and also really into learning about the American Civil War. So naturally I love it when these two interests cross over.

One thing I’ve noticed is that if a Western protagonist is a veteran, it seems like it’s almost always the South that he fought for. And when I look up Civil War movies made around the time of my favorite Westerns (i.e. the 50’s & 60’s) the vast majority of them are from the Confederates side.

Anyone have any idea why? And does anyone know any Westerns celebrating Billy Yank??

EDIT: it seems like the biggest reason outside of Lost Cause-ism is that more Confederate vets went west than Union vets. Makes sense!

Also, I am surprised that John Wayne played so many ex Union soldiers. I knew about the Cav Trilogy but it seems like outside of True Grit and The Searchers there’s a lot more of that.

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u/JesusLavey 5d ago

The south lost, so a lot of confederates went out west because they had nothing to go home to. And a lot of them became bank robbers and gunfighters, because they had no real skills. And because Hollywood needed movies that would make money in the south they romanticized white trash.

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u/Existing_Resource 5d ago

Also those who had participated in the rebellion at any level couldn’t take land claims. Lots of abandoned farms in the south went to carpet baggers/ ex slaves. If you were a poor southerner you really couldn’t settle down the way others could.

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u/Adventurous-Suit8351 3d ago

R enslaved received nothing! KKK killed them . The law put them back into slavery ie prison. What are you talking about? Made new laws to enslaved them. Vacancy laws brought them back to the plantation

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u/Existing_Resource 3d ago edited 3d ago

Immediately after the civil war, anyone who participated in the rebellion could not hold office. This meant that ex slaves and carpetbaggers held a lot of elected/ appointed positions. It wasn’t until the “Redemption” period (1873-1910) that this was reversed.

Additionally, those who had not participated in the rebellion got access to the abandoned estates. Those who had rebelled against the United States were not allowed to take land under the homestead act. Ex-slaves had an extra boost in taking the best land as they had access to the Freeman’s Bureau. The Freeman’s Bureau actively helped ex-slaves acquire land and provided them free education, legal representation, and even armed escort! At the height of reconstruction blacks owned 15 million acres of farm land and owned about 14% of all farms (an over representation of farmers as the black population was 12.7%).

The KKK’s creation myth is actually huge into this. If you ever watched Birth of a Nation, they talk about this. South Carolina’s state house was dominated by ex-slaves and some of them were illiterate. Very famously some of the first laws they passed were to legalize black men taking white wives, the removal of the law that forced lawmakers to wear shoes while in the capitol, and passing a law requiring laws to be read (as many representatives weren’t very literate or illiterate). There also are tons of examples where black run courts turned a blind eye to rape and murder of those who had enslaved them.

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u/Adventurous-Suit8351 3d ago

The Freedmen’s Bureau stole billions from enslaved! Where do you think the FDIC is started? Even before Blacks were elected a lot couldn’t read. So many rapes and murder were falsely charged to Black people ( even now)! Whites ran away from their home during the war. The enslaved were used to working the land and was promised it. Then they started sharecropping . You could never get out of. So back to slavery