The Civil war is one of the largest topics covered in 8th grade US history, with it’s change in America affecting us to this day. The importance of this unit may not be widely known, but the Civil war changed our country for the better. Being able to have a struggle to learn from to know how to make better decisions for our country’s future is essential to keep this country together. How we get taught about the Civil war can vary depending on the state and the books you read. I was given the chance to compare the Michigan State Curriculum on the Civil war and the book “Lincoln’s last Days” by Bill O’Reilly and Dwight Jon Zimmerman, and I must say the differences in the two are very apparent. “Lincoln’s Last Days” and Michigan’s State Curriculum …show more content…
I feel that both the Michigan State Curriculum and the book “Lincoln’s Last Days” dealt with this in different ways. “Lincoln’s Last Days” showed you how the generals and Abraham Lincoln talked to their soldiers and each other. I saw that not all confederates were savages who had no common sense. I even read about a civil discussion between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, that I never would’ve imagined before. The Michigan State Curriculum on the other hand showed me reasons why the South would want slavery. It showed me that this war wasn’t “good vs. evil”, but much more than that. The war was about slavery, but the South’s liking for slavery has reasons behind it and wasn’t just closed minded racism. Even though there were white supremacists, there were also concerns for the economy. Since the South heavily relied on slaves to help grow crops, and their concerns were very real. Of course, this isn’t justification, just an explanation. Their actions were still wrong, but there was an explanation to why some wanted to keep