Day 1 – Introducing the Southern Belles
Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn
Even if you've never seen the movie, you know this is the
best-known quote from the legendary movie ‘Gone with the Wind’, in which Rhett
Butler played by Clark Gable says goodbye to Scarlett O'Hara played by Vivien
Leigh. If you have not seen the film, you are forgiven, because watching the
almost four-hour epic drama demands some
perseverance.
The romantic drama based on Margaret Mitchell's book takes place in the South at the time of the American Civil War.
Scarlett O'Hara could be described as a Southern Belle, a southern beauty who has mastered the etiquette rules perfectly. The day of these rich daughters consisted mainly of parading in their far too large and especially impractical hoop skirts, under which they were constricted in a corset that was much too small. On their heads they wore too big hats to protect their long curly locks and to keep their skin from tanning. In one hand they wore a pearly white umbrella and in the other hand a beautiful lace handkerchief. As such, they wandered through their gigantic mansions, descended from majestic stairs or made an afternoon walk on the vast cotton plantations. Much was not expected of a Southern Belle: marrying a respectable man after which they could take up their role as caring wife and mother and volunteering for the benefit of the community. That perfect life of the Southern Belles in the South was in deep contrast to the life of the hard workers: the work in the house, on the plantations and even the helping in those ridiculously small corsets was done by ... slaves. And the abolition of slavery was the reason of that violent, bloody civil war that almost tore apart the country and would last no less than four years. 620,000 dead later, the Union (the North, the Yankees) won the war. The Confederalists from the South were the big losers. Slavery was abolished under Abraham Lincoln. The South was left impoverished. General Sherman, who led the Yankee troops, applied the tactics of the scorched earth. The Confederalists could not return home, they could not take back buildings, all their possessions were lost. Fields were burnt down, houses at best plundered, but often also reduced to ashes, the wealth was still with a few landowners who were spared. The economic center lay in the industrial North, the difference with the agricultural South became even greater.
Although slavery was officially abolished through a thirteenth amendment to the constitution, there would still be 100 years of disguised slavery in the South where it was forbidden for the black community to participate normally in society.
With slavery, the Southern Belles with their hoop skirts also disappeared. But from the ashes of that devastated South, other Southern Belles arose: cities that are absolute gems, which became the cradle of various musical styles that secured their place in the music world for good. And to the rhythm of that South, I sing the current Southern Belles the coming days. Ready for a lesson in American history, music history, with a glass of whiskey and topped with a spicy sauce? Oh yes, and the South has much more to offer than that.
The romantic drama based on Margaret Mitchell's book takes place in the South at the time of the American Civil War.
Scarlett O'Hara could be described as a Southern Belle, a southern beauty who has mastered the etiquette rules perfectly. The day of these rich daughters consisted mainly of parading in their far too large and especially impractical hoop skirts, under which they were constricted in a corset that was much too small. On their heads they wore too big hats to protect their long curly locks and to keep their skin from tanning. In one hand they wore a pearly white umbrella and in the other hand a beautiful lace handkerchief. As such, they wandered through their gigantic mansions, descended from majestic stairs or made an afternoon walk on the vast cotton plantations. Much was not expected of a Southern Belle: marrying a respectable man after which they could take up their role as caring wife and mother and volunteering for the benefit of the community. That perfect life of the Southern Belles in the South was in deep contrast to the life of the hard workers: the work in the house, on the plantations and even the helping in those ridiculously small corsets was done by ... slaves. And the abolition of slavery was the reason of that violent, bloody civil war that almost tore apart the country and would last no less than four years. 620,000 dead later, the Union (the North, the Yankees) won the war. The Confederalists from the South were the big losers. Slavery was abolished under Abraham Lincoln. The South was left impoverished. General Sherman, who led the Yankee troops, applied the tactics of the scorched earth. The Confederalists could not return home, they could not take back buildings, all their possessions were lost. Fields were burnt down, houses at best plundered, but often also reduced to ashes, the wealth was still with a few landowners who were spared. The economic center lay in the industrial North, the difference with the agricultural South became even greater.
Although slavery was officially abolished through a thirteenth amendment to the constitution, there would still be 100 years of disguised slavery in the South where it was forbidden for the black community to participate normally in society.
With slavery, the Southern Belles with their hoop skirts also disappeared. But from the ashes of that devastated South, other Southern Belles arose: cities that are absolute gems, which became the cradle of various musical styles that secured their place in the music world for good. And to the rhythm of that South, I sing the current Southern Belles the coming days. Ready for a lesson in American history, music history, with a glass of whiskey and topped with a spicy sauce? Oh yes, and the South has much more to offer than that.
Frankly my dear, I
do give a damn.
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