Summary Of What This Cruel War Was Over By Chandra Manning

I selected the book, What this Cruel War Was Over by Chandra Manning because I have always been fascinated by the Civil War. The Civil War was a gruesome war fought in the United States between the North and the South over the liberation of slaves. I chose this book because I have always been enthralled by the idea of a patriot serving his country and risking his life to protect his nation. For this reason, I selected this book to learn of the horrific struggles faced during the time our nation fought over slavery. This is Chandra Manning’s first book. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke college in Massachusetts. Manning received her PhD at Harvard in 2002 and her masters in philosophy from the National University of Ireland. She currently

Union soldier’s patriotism centers less on self-interest. It focused on their emotional attachment to the American government which was created in the midst of the Civil War. Union soldiers thought it was their duty to defend liberty and self-government which slavery afflicted. Union soldiers cared about the United States’ government not just because it met their families’ needs and interests, but its survival mattered for the survival of their equality and liberty, and slavery hindered that. African American Union Soldiers viewed their service in the war as a way to receive manhood, citizenship, and equality, and they fought for the establishment of this. To them, their service qualified for full rights as American citizens. They fought in the war for the freedom of the enslaved. Confederate patriotism was based on interests for their loved ones, which they assumed was the survival of slavery. Slavery was considered the “cement” that held Confederates together. It was the foundation of the southern social

She uses the words of soldiers from their own personal letters, diaries, and newspapers to exemplify the unbiased narrative she took to write this book. Manning wanted to avoid the typical misunderstandings of soldier’s “emotional patriotism.” Her thesis is proven by her well written explanation into the patriotic service of these men and their reasoning behind enlistment which was far from emotional. Chandra Manning did not manifest an opinion as to which side she favored through any circumstances in her novel. She looked to prove the beliefs of the common soldier, and I think she did so splendidly.

Chandra Manning used valid sources throughout the development of her novel. As previously mentioned, she used Civil War soldier’s diaries, letters, and newspapers for insight into their personal experience and beliefs. She built her novel off of two particular books: Reid Mitchell’s Civil War Soldiers and James McPherson’s For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. Manning used some specific quotes from dying soldiers and their families’ thoughts on their servicemen’s