Essays - Propaganda

In the opening of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, the director uses color, sound, music, lighting, and other visuals to perpetuate elements of the Lost Cause. Specifically, these production decisions reinforce the belief that Southern plantations were an evolution of European feudalism. Visually, this is communicated superbly to audiences by using on-screen text matched by epic orchestral music.

John Kennedy’s book Swallow Barn was an effective “antidote to the abolition mischief” and ultimately deceived the South. Kennedy portrays the plantation as an evolution of feudalism, depicts plantation life as mutually beneficial and positive for everyone, and diminishes the humanity of enslaved persons. By misinforming the South, Kennedy contributes to the continuation of the institution of American slavery and leads to the American Civil War.