Edward A. Pollard

Edward Alfred Pollard (February 27, 1832December 17, 1872) was an American author, journalist, and Confederate sympathizer during the American Civil War who wrote several books on the causes and events of the war, notably ''The Lost Cause: A New Southern History of the War of the Confederates''(1866) and ''The Lost Cause Regained''(1868), wherein Pollard originated the long-standing pseudo-historical ideology of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.

Written after the war, these works advocated white supremacy, supported the relegation of blacks to second-class status, and accused the Union and federal government of alleged excesses committed both during and after the war. The books gave two different descriptions of the causes of the war and the nature of Southern society: ''The Lost Cause'' claimed the main reason for the war was the two opposing ways (largely slavery) of organizing society, and viewed slavery as key to the nobility of the South, while ''The Lost Cause Regained'' argued that the primary reason for secession was not slavery, but the preservation of state sovereignty. The latter viewpoint reflects much of Pollard's post-1867 attempts to reconcile former pro-Confederacy ideas with new realities, patriotism, and free-labor unionism. Provided by Wikipedia