Finally, we visited a Confederate cemetery. This cemetery was established in 1863 after the Battle of Chattanooga, a significant Union victory. It holds the graves of over 1,600 Confederate soldiers, including many unidentified individuals (and two Union soldiers who died as POWs). Chattanooga was a strategic location in the war, and the cemetery served as a centralized resting place for fallen soldiers from various battles.

Adjacent to a citizen cemetery and backing up onto the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga campus, it has an unusual location. I was surprised to find a Confederate cemetery at all. Having come from the West, I had always imagined these would be mostly unmarked graves. However, after spending weeks traveling across the South, I’ve realized that Southerners continue to hold very strong opinions about the Civil War. I found this video that did a great job of describing the conditions that led to the Civil War.

What I found most interesting from this video was the discussion regarding southern states’ desires for greater sovereignty. This was initially reflected in the Articles of Confederation (the precursor to the US Constitution). This document created a loose alliance of independent states, granting limited powers to the federal government, primarily focused on issues such as foreign affairs and national defense. However, the Articles proved ineffective in governing the newly formed nation, as they lacked provisions for taxation, regulation of commerce, and enforcement of laws. This led to widespread dissatisfaction and the recognition of the need for a stronger federal government. As a result, the Constitutional Convention was convened to draft a new constitution, which ultimately replaced the Articles of Confederation with the US Constitution in 1789.

Since the founding of America, many Southerners felt that the federal government had become too powerful. This was exacerbated when Abraham Lincoln was elected President and he vowed to abolish slavery. By abolishing slavery, this would all but destroy the South’s agricultural industry. Taken together, this led to the outbreak of the Civil War. Until now, I hadn’t pieced together the strong central government and weak central government part of the puzzle, but now that I have, I understand some of why this dispute continues to rage on in US politics.