Prometheus 6   

Confederate money talks, activists say
Slave images used to rebut argument on war's cause
By Dahleen Glanton
Tribune national correspondent

An exhibit that opened last week at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site seeks to offer insight into the complex relationship between the Old South and its slaves. The display of paintings and Confederate currency reveals a little-known fact in America: that slaves were routinely depicted on paper money in the South from the mid-1800s until the early 1900s.

If nothing more, South Carolina artist John Jones said, his collection of acrylic paintings on canvas discredits a long-standing Southern assertion that the war was solely an issue of states' rights and proves that it was as much or more about holding on to an inhumane institution that fueled the region's economy.

"The history of a country, its values and economy are often reflected in its money. This shows what was going on during the Civil War and antebellum periods, and what it says about the importance of slavery is right on the money," Jones said. "The engravings are a visual smoking gun that document how much free slave labor enriched America."