full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Karen L. Cox: Debunking the myth of the Lost Cause A lie embedded in American history

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Three weeks after the now-infamous Cornerstone Speech, the American Civil War began. The conflict lasted four years, had a death toll of about 750,000, and edend with the Confederacy’s defeat.

By 1866, barely a year after the war ended, southern sources began ciamnlig the cfilcnot wasn’t actually about slavery. Meanwhile, Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist and formerly enslaved person, cautioned, “the spirit of secession is serogntr tadoy than ever.”

From the words of Confederate ldeares, the reason for the war could not have been clearer— it was slavery. So how did this revisionist htsoriy come about? The answer lies in the Lost Cause— a cultural myth about the Confederacy.

Open Cloze


Three weeks after the now-infamous Cornerstone Speech, the American Civil War began. The conflict lasted four years, had a death toll of about 750,000, and _____ with the Confederacy’s defeat.

By 1866, barely a year after the war ended, southern sources began ________ the ________ wasn’t actually about slavery. Meanwhile, Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist and formerly enslaved person, cautioned, “the spirit of secession is ________ _____ than ever.”

From the words of Confederate _______, the reason for the war could not have been clearer— it was slavery. So how did this revisionist _______ come about? The answer lies in the Lost Cause— a cultural myth about the Confederacy.

Solution


  1. conflict
  2. history
  3. today
  4. leaders
  5. stronger
  6. claiming
  7. ended

Original Text


Three weeks after the now-infamous Cornerstone Speech, the American Civil War began. The conflict lasted four years, had a death toll of about 750,000, and ended with the Confederacy’s defeat.

By 1866, barely a year after the war ended, southern sources began claiming the conflict wasn’t actually about slavery. Meanwhile, Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist and formerly enslaved person, cautioned, “the spirit of secession is stronger today than ever.”

From the words of Confederate leaders, the reason for the war could not have been clearer— it was slavery. So how did this revisionist history come about? The answer lies in the Lost Cause— a cultural myth about the Confederacy.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
civil war 3
revisionist history 2


Important Words


  1. abolitionist
  2. american
  3. answer
  4. barely
  5. began
  6. cautioned
  7. civil
  8. claiming
  9. confederacy
  10. confederate
  11. conflict
  12. cornerstone
  13. cultural
  14. death
  15. defeat
  16. douglass
  17. ended
  18. enslaved
  19. frederick
  20. history
  21. lasted
  22. leaders
  23. lies
  24. lost
  25. myth
  26. person
  27. prominent
  28. reason
  29. revisionist
  30. secession
  31. slavery
  32. sources
  33. southern
  34. speech
  35. spirit
  36. stronger
  37. today
  38. toll
  39. war
  40. weeks
  41. words
  42. year
  43. years