The overall cause of the Civil War will most likely remain in a perpetual state of disagreement amongst historians for years to come. The soldiers however, are not often discussed and are usually ignored for prominent military leaders. The experience of an enlisted man sheds light on important social and cultural issues, which surrounded all aspects of the Civil War. Economic and political issues helped fuel the war but race relations were at the heart of the fire. In What This Cruel War Was Over, Chandra Manning seeks to discuss why men from both the North and the South not only joined the war effort, but also why they continued to do so for four grueling years. Manning argues that no matter which side a soldier stood, the other side threatened his stance on slavery. …show more content…
Despite previous scholarship offering insight into soldiers’ views during the war, Manning looks at the subtle ways these views evolved. Manning claims that Union soldiers called for complete emancipation of the slaves as early as 1861. This was long before civilians and political leaders and civilians began to feel the same. From the perspective of a Union soldier “slavery blighted everything it touched” and needed to be completely dismantled in order to preserve the Union (p. 47). According to Manning, Northerners had little contact with slavery prior to the war. The Northern soldiers’ experiences with slavery ultimately lead the Lincoln administration towards emancipation. In September 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, with Civil War soldiers being at the center of it all. Throughout the war Union soldiers displayed racism and prejudice. By the end however, they were beginning to question themselves and race relations in the United
Book Review: Co Aytch or a Side Show of the Big Show Sam Watkins was born in 1839 in Tennessee where he enlisted to join to the First Tennessee Regiment and fight alongside the Tennessean Confederate Army. During his time in the Civil War, Watkins identified himself as Maury Grays. In his memoir, Co. Aytch or a Side Show of the Big Show, Sam distinctively displays details to describe his life changing experiences from conflicts that arose from the war such as when he discusses his battle at Shiloh. Being that Samuel endured the Civil War himself, his vivid descriptions are even more believable. Furthermore, in Co Aytch, Watkins constantly reminds readers that he, in no way, “intends to write history; rather, he sought to convey his own impressions of a ‘few sketches and incidents from the observation of a ‘high private’ in the rear ranks of the rebel army,
The Civil War. Louis P. Masur’s book, The civil War: a Concise History, Is a book that gives an overview of the civil war from 18 to 1800, Providing multiple causes an consequences that emerged from the war. The book begins by reviewing the origins of the war. Chapter one covers the issues between northern and southern states and the tension over right and slave possession. The tension created a conflict that raised a number of political, social, and military events that then proceeded into a battle to abolish slavery from the colonies.
Union Soldier in Battle “Union Soldier in Battle” by Earl Hess, gives an insightful and truly detailed look into the lives of American soldiers during the civil war. This book not only discusses what the battlefield was like but it also goes into depth on how soldiers dealt with coping with what was happening around them. Hess draws his work from letters, diaries, and memoirs of Union soldiers; by doing this, Hess is able to expose the soldier’s deepest fears and also their sources of inner strength. He shows how they were encouraged by belief in God and country, or simply by their sense of duty; how they came to rely on the support of their comrades; and how they learned to muster self-control in order to persevere from one battle to the next.
Necessity of Battle: Shelby Foote’s Perspective Political, economic, and social factors all fueled the start of the Civil War, and these causes continued to divide the nation throughout the war. These elements of influence overpowered the ability to come to an agreement through debate over the differing opinions; therefore, the Civil War started due to war necessity since fighting could end the disagreements. The North and South failed to come to a compromise, so they both fought a war in a deadly fashion. The Civil War resulted in more American casualties than any other previous war. After each military campaign, Shelby Foote calculates the number of deaths of the North and South and totals them.
Soldiering for Freedom: How the Union army recruited, trained, and deployed the U.S. Coloured Troops by Bob Luke and John Smith discusses the recruitment, training process and deployment of blacks by the Lincoln government. In addition to this the struggles faced by black Union soldiers who fought in order to gain their freedom but who was only met by racial prejudice. The authors also focused on “how the government mobilised and utilised blacks in battle and how white circumscribed and shaped their efforts. In my review, I will be focusing on the topics that I believed to be very influential in the process of gaining the trust of blacks in order to encourage them to enlist and fight in the Civil War after their help was needed and seen as
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.
Throughout the war, Slavery was the main key that brought more problems to intensify the start of the war between the north and the south. To demonstrate in the textbook, “The Americans”, the author states that, “Most white southerners also feared that an end to their entire way of life was at hand. Many were desperate for
As we know, the concluding factor of the war, left the north in victory. This created a massive amount of changes to be made in American society. Although slavery was abolished during this time, other challenges arose during the reconstruction era in the south. I strongly argue that, through the result of the
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 good moral feeling of the ability to win the war ran through the union, the same feeling of victory when Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln allowed slaves to fight for their own freedom and on behalf of them spoke to the whites explaining why it was so important to keep fighting. Lincoln explained that they were fighting for their own soldiers now. Both the Emancipation proclamation and the Gettysburg Address had a big social impact on americans. Both of the turning points brought hope and good moral being to
All Americans are familiar with the Civil war: its purpose, impact, and how it shaped the country. One may wonder, however, was this the necessary path in reshaping the United States? In closer examination, the war and the Reconstruction were quite brutal and messy. Pre-war, the North and South were distinctly divided into the ambitious and modernized North, and the old fashioned and plantation-dependent South, in which both sides radically believed in different values. In fact, many issues, especially slavery, were precariously balanced until everything finally collapsed after the 1950s.
In April of 1861, the first month of the civil war, Alfred M. Green gave a speech to encourage his fellow African Americans to “prepare to enlist” and fight for the north. The north was fighting to preserve the Union and end slavery while the opposing side, the south, fought to defend slavery. Although they could not fight in the war, and did not want to, he felt that African Americans should “strive to be admitted to the ranks.” In his speech, Green uses many different methods to persuade them to join the Union forces.
In chapter one, Lincoln and Liberty, of Chandra Manning’s What This Cruel War Was Over, (2007), Manning explains that although there were many reasons for why a solider white or black, Union or Confederate, slavery was the ultimate cause of the Civil War. At first Manning lists all the reasons soldiers from certain backgrounds enlisted but then she shows how those reasons were connected to slavery or how slavery very quickly became the reason someone was fighting. She does this in order to show the reader that slavery affected everyone is some way or another and that is why it became the main cause of the war. I believe Manning is successful in showing the relation between slavery and the soldiers fighting for its continuation or its end. Manning
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.
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.