Resumen de Reconstituting the next generation: an analysis of the United Daughters of the Confederacy's Catechisms for Children
This essay examines the strategies a shattered collective may employ to reconstitute itself and its next generation. Specifically, I analyze how the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) encouraged members of the Children of the Confederacy to participate in their definition of the 'Southern people' through the rhetoric of their catechisms. I argue that the UDC reconstituted a Southern people with a collective history, shared identity, common location, and unified action. Further, I contend that the UDC interpellated the Children into the Southern people with pathetic appeals and by having the Children perform the catechism ritual. The UDC's case offers insights beyond original constitution to illustrate rhetorical reconstitution, a process that rebuilds the fractured requirements of a de-collectivized people.
