{"id":6708,"date":"2021-11-26T11:57:17","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T10:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=193466"},"modified":"2021-11-26T12:12:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T11:12:08","slug":"why-was-stratford-upon-avon-a-hotbed-of-confederate-activity","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/why-was-stratford-upon-avon-a-hotbed-of-confederate-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"Why was Stratford-upon-Avon a hotbed of Confederate activity?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rhiannon Davies\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 26 November 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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After the Confederates were defeated in the US Civil War<\/a> and Robert E Lee\u2019s forces surrendered in 1865, many of them sailed across the Atlantic and sought sanctuary in a rather unexpected place: Stratford-upon-Avon, in the English county of Warwickshire. Islam Issa says: \u201cThe county became a hub for Confederates in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. And many people don\u2019t know this but specifically Leamington Spa, just north of Stratford, attracted a lot of Confederates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Explaining why so many radicals were drawn to the distant county, Issa says: \u201cEssentially the region sympathised with the Confederate cause. It was perfectly positioned for the new arrivals with access to London via the train, and to Liverpool, which was a key city for slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen: Islam Issa reveals how terrorists have twisted Shakespeare\u2019s life and work to suit their own ends over the centuries, on this episode of the HistoryExtra<\/em> podcast<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nhttps:\/\/media.immediate.co.uk\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2021\/11\/Shakespeare_terrorism-227f033.mp3<\/a><\/audio>

This settlement, Issa argues, is just one way that William Shakespeare<\/a> has been used by political radicals throughout history to justify their beliefs. \u201cWe have this idea of Shakespeare legitimising a cause, in a similar way to how he was used by the Nazis and others. But for better or for worse, there have been Confederates associating themselves with Shakespeare throughout history, and that was specifically heightened due to their proximity to his hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most famous Confederates who used Shakespeare to justify an act of terror was John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of US President Abraham Lincoln. As well as holding strong political views, Booth was a committed actor and came from a family who doted on the Elizabethan bard. Issa says: \u201cBooth, along with his father and brother, was part of a Shakespearean family. They loved Shakespeare; they were Shakespearean actors who toured the country putting on Shakespeare plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booth developed an obsession with one of Shakespeare\u2019s characters in particular: Brutus, from the play Julius Caesar<\/em>. This proved monumental, as \u201cwe think of Brutus as somebody who legitimises the assassination of Julius Caesar<\/a>, even if it\u2019s a mob that did the actual deed.\u201d Booth even wrote about the character in his journal, saying that Brutus\u2019s dagger was guided by its love for Rome. Issa reflects: \u201cI\u2019d say Booth tries to emulate Brutus and to some extent Macbeth, and the result is that he became the first person to assassinate a US president.\u201d<\/p>\n

The place of Lincoln\u2019s murder was also significant, as he was fatally shot in a theatre<\/a>. Issa opines: \u201cBooth really embodies Shakespeare\u2019s idea that all the world\u2019s a stage. He becomes transfixed with the idea of taking things into your own hands, as these characters do, and he becomes obsessed by some of the themes of Shakespeare\u2019s plays, such as tyranny \u2013 specifically Lincoln\u2019s tyranny. So in a way, he carries out an action that we\u2019d expect from a Shakespearean character, not so much from someone in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Islam\u00a0Issa\u00a0is the author of\u00a0Shakespeare and Terrorism\u00a0<\/em>(Routledge, 2021)<\/strong><\/p>\n