‘Casual Reminder That in 1861, 11 Senators and 3 Representatives Were Expelled from Congress for Failing to Recognize Lincoln’s Election and Supporting Insurrection’ A screenshot of a tweet claiming that fourteen lawmakers were expelled in 1861 for "failing to recognize" the election of Abraham Lincoln and "supporting insurrection" went viral against a backdrop of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.
‘Deadliest Days in American History’ Meme A viral meme circulating in December 2020 lists the "deadliest days in American history," with four of eight entries occurring in one month -- December 2020.
Disinformation Peddlers Push ‘October 16th’ Conspiracy Theory A United States Marine Corps directive led to a fresh tide of online bilge attempting to convince readers to be ready for a nonexistent armed insurrection... again.
Did the Confederate Flag’s Designer Call it a Symbol of White Supremacy, Not Southern Heritage? "Heritage, not hate" wasn't axiomatic when the Civil War and the Confederacy were current events.
‘Why Did Slaves Come to America?’ School Worksheet In March 2019, two viral Facebook posts circulated with an image of an alarmingly inaccurate “Why Did Slaves Come to America?” worksheet. The viral Facebook posts were part of a larger controversy in February and March 2019 about myriad incomplete, deeply inaccurate, and outright misleading school lessons on slavery in various places across the United States in […]
Underground Railroad to Mexico? On February 13 2019, a Facebook user shared a screenshot of a tweet, originally tweeted a day earlier by @HISTORY about a purported version of the Underground Railroad running south to Mexico: Text for the tweet read: Slaveholders knew that enslaved people were escaping to Mexico, and the U.S. tried to get Mexico to sign […]
Delaware, Ohio, Cemetery Exhumes Bodies of Confederate Soldiers-Fiction! Claims that a Delaware cemetery has begun exhuming the bodies of Confederate soldiers in response to violent protests in Charlottesville are false.
Edward C. Smith: In Defense of Robert E. Lee Commentary-Authorship Confirmed! Edward C. Smith: In Defense of Robert E. Lee Commentary-Authorship Confirmed! Summary of eRumor: A commentary by a black man named Edward C. Smith was published under the headline, “In Defense of Robert E. Lee,” in the Washington Post on August 21, 1999. The Truth: We can confirm that the Washington Post published an op-ed […]
