In the context of Statue of Jefferson Davis (U.S. Capitol), analyze the Public reaction to the statue's unveiling of the Background and unveiling ceremony.
The Houston Post, in a 1930 editorial published in newspapers around the country discussing the planned installation of the statue in Statuary Hall, stated "Justice to Jefferson Davis was long delayed, but it has been coming, and the placing of this statue in the nation's Capitol along with those of other great servants of the country, will hasten the day when the great leader in the lost cause will be accorded his rightful place in the history of the country."In the lead up to the unveiling of the Davis and George statues, The Atlanta Constitution published an editorial describing Jefferson Davis as "a chief apostle of southern sentiments and aspirations" and a "martyr and immortal" "who sacrificed splendidly." They added that the "gallant and grateful Mississippians have honored their statue and themselves by fixing [Davis's] sculptured personality among the famous of the nation," and the "ceremonies of presentation of these statues will mark one of the notable days in the country's annals."In a response to the Davis Statue's unveiling, The Daily News published an editorial criticizing Mississippi for choosing "as her favorite son the slavery leader" Davis, "the leader of the cause which sought to split up the United States," a cause that was "based on the most barbarous cruel and vicious institution ever invented – human slavery." Commenting on the popular commemoration of Confederates, the editorial found it peculiar that "most southerners honor the men who tried to break up the Union above the southerners who played an enormous role in building the Union."In a letter to the editor published in The Burlington Free Press, W. W. Jeffords commented on the unveiling of the Jefferson Davis statue writing that "when we stop and consider that [Jefferson Davis] was an arch-traitor and unrepentant all of his life subsequent to the close of the Civil War and refused to avail himself of the privilege of the general Amnesty Act ... it seems almost incredible that his lifeless image should have been admitted to the National Capitol."
Jefferson Davis The Burlington Free Press Constitution right United States Daily News Amnesty Act slavery The Atlanta Constitution George Houston Post