The Civil War: The Second American Revolution?

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The Civil War has been described as one of the most important occurrences in the life of the United States. It was period in time when the United States was no longer united, but instead was split between the north and south due to the ongoing feud over of the legal standing of slavery nationwide. For four years, many people were subjected to horrific measures, especially the soldiers that participated in combat. Despite the brutality of battle, soldiers experienced a numerous amount of daily hardships that made their stint in the war almost intolerable. Being far away from their homes and loved ones, having access only to inadequate food and shelter, gaining an increased risk for diseases, barely living through harsh winters, enduring ferocious summers, and dragging through long days were the regular struggles of a Civil War solider (“Overview” par. 8). The question that many people have about this era is if the extreme conditions of the war were so unpleasant, why did the majority of the soldiers withstand their difficulties and continue to defend their beliefs through war? This is what author James M. McPherson discloses to the readers in his book, What They Fought For: 1861-1865, as he credibly recreates the issues and incidents of the civil war through the words of the soldiers themselves.
James M. McPherson is a famous American historian, author, and editor that has a fascination with the Civil War. According to Amy Lifson, McPherson’s enthusiasm for the Civil War truly began when he was a graduate student at John Hopkins University, studying the abolitionist that had an influence on Abraham Lincoln’s political successes. After being intrigued by the certain subjects such as abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln, the reconstructi...

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...ing around the debate of the rightness and wrongness of slavery. McPherson accurately executes the logic behind the courageous acts of the many Civil War soldiers, both Confederate and Union, as they refused to disperse their fight, regardless of their unfavorable surroundings in order to give the audience a better understand of the reasons and causes behind the nation’s temporary, but severe division.

Works Cited

"American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)." Revolutionary War 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"James M. McPherson." Contemporary Authors. Gale, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Lifson, Amy. "James McPherson Biography." National Endowment for the Humanities. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
McPherson, James M. What They Fought For: 1861-1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ., 1997. Print.
"Overview of Civil War." Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

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