How did the Civil War permanently change the American psyche? Be sure to address the title of the book on which this documentary was based A Republic of Suffering. Limit your answer to 8 to 10 well-constructed sentences. The loss of so many lives was not only a permanent change in the American Psyche but also in the character of the republic and the culture of the government.
Civil War soldiers fought for something more than just manhood, duty, government, and their country. They fought for and against slavery, which for most soldiers was their primary motivation beyond defending their home. Slavery for many was more than just an institution, it was the fabric of their economic society that provided the wealth and opportunity to the South. Without slavery the South could not operate and prosper which made it impossible for the notion of emancipation. However, those in the North did not immediately rely on the institution of slavery in such dire manner.
In chapter one of What They Fought For, I learned about the letters and diaries of the Confederate soldiers. The themes of the letters were home-sickness, lack of peace, and the defense of home against their invading enemy. The thought of soldiers fighting for their homes and being threatened by invaders, made them stronger when facing adversity. Many men expressed that they would rather die fighting for a cause, than dying without trying and this commitment showed patriotism. Throughout the letters, soldiers claimed their reason for fighting, was for the principles of Constitutional liberty and self-government.
Taylor Headrick Review of: McPherson, James M. For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. New York, Oxford University Press, 1997. In James M. McPherson’s book, For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War, he investigates Civil War soldiers’ diaries to discover why men from both sides chose to fight in the Civil War while also examining the different motives for each side. McPherson challenges traditional knowledge about the motives and mentalities of Civil War soldiers, offers new insight that differs from typical historians, and provides readers with specific details from soldiers’ journals and letters.
The United States Civil War is possible one of the most meaningful, bloodstained and controversial war fought in American history. Northern Americans against Southern Americans fought against one another for a variety of motives. These motives aroused from a wide range of ideologies that stirred around the states. In James M. McPherson’s What they fought for: 1861-1865, he analyzes the Union and Confederate soldier’s morale and ideological components through the letters they wrote to love ones while at war. While, John WhiteClay Chambers and G. Kurt Piehler depict Civil War soldiers through their letters detailing the agonizing battles of war in Major Problems in American Military History.
The book What They Fought for written by James M. McPherson is a small set of pages that focused on the reason why soldiers from both sides the Union and Confederate were risking their lives to fight during the Civil War. He claims that Civil War soldiers do know what they are fighting for unlike other historians who say the opposite. McPherson backs his claims by using letters and diaries from the Civil War soldiers as his main source to prove his statement. In the first chapter “The holy cause of liberty and independence” focuses on the thoughts and opinions of the Confederate armies.
During the years that led up to the Civil War, the economic system between the North and the South were completely incompatible. The South’s economy was based on agriculture, whereas, the North was depended on manufacturing. The difference between the economic systems significantly created a conflict between the North and the South such as Anti-slavery, pro-slavery, and political demand. The plantation system in the South had rapidly grown, especially with the invention of the cotton gin.
James Polk was elected in 1845 and had an expansionist viewpoint. He accomplished all of his presidential campaign goals which included gaining Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico, and Arizona including a few more territories on the southern border, therefore, expanding America's territories. In addition, Polk began a period of Manifest Destiny. This was a phrase used to describe America’s goal to grow from “sea to shining sea”. Also, the Mexican-American War in 1846 acquired new lands for America in the southwest from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
H.L. Menken once said, “The American people, North and South, went into the Civil War as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects... what they thus lost they have never got back.” The Civil War was a game changer for the United States. There were many problems leading up to this and the Civil War was bound to happen. Texans fought in the Civil War to protect States Rights, to keep slavery, and for the love of Texas.
The Civil War was one of the most devastating wars in American history. It was fought between the North and the South over Slavery. It impacted both the South and the North’s economy. Many people died trying to re-unite the country over slavery, “over 620,000 people died in the Civil War” (Riggs 2 ). This proved that the war not only affected the country and the economy; it also affected the people as well.
One of the most important wars in American history was the Civil War, it lead to change in beliefs and conviction in our borders. Fought from 1861 to 1865 many constitutional and social developments had to occur for our country to truly be free for everyone. Elections, conspiracies, assassinations, all to bring unity between the North and the South but also leading to a revolution. It pushed the South to rethink their belief that slavery is right and the Union to fight for the freedom that goes with being an American to all races.
The living legacy of the United States Civil War is a complicated time in American history one finds difficult to describe. The ramification of the war prior, during and after still haunt the current citizens who call The States their home. Tony Horwitz’s book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War looks at the wide gap of discontent that still looms in the late 1990s. For some southerners, the Confederacy still lives on through reenactments, stories and beliefs. For others in the South, reminders the land was dedicated to the Confederacy spark hatred and spite.
Life for the Union Soldier was not only brutal on the battlefield, but the camp life for a Union soldier was just as cruel. With the lack of personal hygiene, unsavory and repugnant food, and the shortage of clothing made living, a very difficult thing to do. Growth in the number of people with diseases was also a contributing factor to the massive amounts of death within the camp and as well as the post-battle wounds that often left either a man with one less limb or put in a mental institution. A Union Soldier’s life during the Civil War was cruel and horrific during their stay at the camps.
The Civil War The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history with over 600000 American deaths reported. This war was fought to keep the Confederate States from leaving the Union. The Union won because they had a telegraph system and had more resources. The effect of the Union victory has had a large impact on society.
Harriet Tubman, a famous abolitionist, once said “I rescued a thousand slaves and I could have rescued a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves”. Many slaves of the 19th century were not able to read or write, and were completely oblivious to natural rights and other political situations happening around them. Alfred M. Green gave a speech in April of 1861 to recruit African American slaves to the army to fight for their freedom. In Green’s speech, he acknowledges the misery African Americans have already been through, points out the flaws in the enemy (the South); and motivates them to participate by using hortatory subjunctives, metaphors, irony, and other rhetorical strategies.
