Kevin, after I typed that and before I posted it, I did pause to question whether that was the best way to describe my intentions with respect to the creation of a National Museum of the Confederacy. But, I went ahead and posted it anyway, knowing full well someone would question what I meant (thank you, Kevin) and that might produce a useful dialog between all of us.

I haven't figured out the answer to your question yet. However, what I am reaching for is an answer(s), based on a cause and effect analysis, to just one question - How did the four year history, existence and subsequent defeat of the Confederacy influence the way American history played out following Appomattox?

Implied, but not stated within this question is, ". . .in contrast with how American history after Appomattox might have played out had the Confederacy never existed?" but that is not the question I am trying to answer since it involves pure speculation.

For example, I think it is fair to say that as a result of the Confederacy and its role in the WBTS,

1. Westward migration of Southerners into the trans-Mississippi west occurred much faster than might otherwise be expected due mainly to the devastation wrought upon Southern farms and its economy during the War.

2. Migration of black folks into the north following the EP, the WBTS and during Reconstruction occurred more rapidly than might otherwise be expected to have happened.

3. The centralized power and influence of the federal government in the everyday lives of Americans was dramatically increased, an example being that had it not been for secession and the existence of the Confederacy, it is fair to say that in addition to the Lincoln administration, the US Supreme Court would never have ruled secession illegal as it did in Texas v. White - a ruling that further strengthened the centralized authority of the federal over the states and set the precedent for many other encroachments of the federal into the everyday lives of Americans.

4. I have no figures to support this, but it seems likely to me that the expansion of railroads in the north, midwest and, eventually into the far west may well trace much of its original impetus back to the WBTS and the hastened migration of Southerners into the trans-Mississippi territories/states during and following Reconstruction.

5. The WBTS strengthened and rendered more visible the South's regional identity; an identity that is unique within the United States and characterized by an equally distinctive politics, economy, culture and literature.

6. Etc. (I hope you get the idea, Kevin)

It would be most interesting were others to expand upon the list provided above. There must be loads of ideas out there that would help explain Southern history in more of a National context.

Before I would go so far as to state these to be historic facts, further research is needed. So, I must add that right now these are my own points of view, or in the context of my post, POVs requiring further validation and translation into cause and effect sequences - sequences that may well allow an interpretation of the Confederacy in a post-Confederacy National context instead of a purely Southern, retrospective context.

Of course, the real potential of this approach to interpreting Southern history/heritage would not begin to become readily apparent until causes of the sort mentioned above were further decomposed into economic, demographic, social and political effects that naturally derive from causes such as these.

I must also add - I believe that unless we on this board and Southerners in general do not find an alternate, more effective way to describe and distribute an explanation of Southern history (not only to Southerners, but to the rest of America), the reality of our history will be lost to history, and discussions of the sort we carry on here on this board will become relegated to family discussions around the kitchen table in an ever decreasing number of Southern homes. Why? Because the rest of the country will have "moved on" leaving Southerners with only fast fading memories of what once was.

I don't know how long that will take. My grandchildren might see it, but for sure, I think my great grands will see it considering the rate at which Southern history is being dismantled, reinterpreted and marginalized in our textbooks and in the popular discourse. In short, I think the South and Southerners must learn to adjust to America as it is today and stop beating the drums of yesteryear, if Southern history is to survive at all. In short, there as got to be a better way than what we are doing right now.

I trust that will give you some idea of what I had in mind, Kevin.