Summary Of This Republic Of Suffering

Not many believed that The Civil War would be more deadly than all the world wars put together. After The First Battle of Bull Run, in the summer of 1861, things became serious and the U.S was about to experience the deadliest war in U.S history. “This Republic of Suffering” goes deep into the effect of the Civil War on the soldiers and their families. The author Drew Gilpin Faust wanted to show the world a side of the war that Americans have never seen in details. Faust showed the death of the soldiers, and the effect that the war had in their families, appealing to the emotions of the readers.
Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard University, wrote the book “This Republic of Suffering” separating it in nine sections. The first section

Faust bring the idea that these soldiers knew that they were going to die for their country. They were ready to give their life for the caused that they believed was right at the time. Faust mentions how this soldiers were “better prepared to die than to kill” (Faust, Ch. 1, pp 6). These soldiers barely had any training before the war and because of their culture, which the majority of the soldiers were protestants, killing was unacceptable, but this love for their country gave them the courage that they needed. Drew Gilpin Faust wanted the audience to know that these soldiers were unprepared physically, mentally, and emotionally. Their anguish was increased. Faust gave the idea that death can have different meanings. “the means and mechanisms to manage more than half a million dead: their deaths, their bodies, their loss. How they accomplished this task reshaped their individual lives—and deaths—at the same time that it redefined their nation and their culture. The work of death was Civil War America’s most fundamental and demanding undertaking.” (Faust, Preface,

Those who are passionate about history and the Civil War will also love this book. The success of “This Republic of suffering” is because it appeals to the emotions of the reader. Making them more interested and hungrier for knowledge. The book put the reader in the soldier's position at war and how horrible their condition was. The author Faust adequately addresses the idea that the government was responsible for the dead and the wounded, also for the mourners. The resources that were found gave helpful information to understand the book “This Republic of Suffering” better. One of the resources was the “Antietam National Battlefield: Letters and Diaries of Soldiers and Civilians”, this source was helpful and very interesting because it provided original thoughts that the U.S soldiers had during The Civil War. The readers can connect the emotions that Drew Gilpin Faust is trying to give in her book, with this source that provides testimonies of the soldiers. Allowing the audience to feel and see the anguish, “the most widely