Tony Horwitz takes a journey through the South to find out why people are still obsessed with the Civil War. On his adventure, he met a wide variety of people and he learned that each person has their own opinion of the war and remembers it in their own way. The Civil War was fought by Americans, on each side, and they all should remember it the same way, but as Horwitz found out on his quest, they are drastically different and still very controversial. Horwitz described different concurrences that undoubtedly show race plays a role in how the Civil War is remembered. The first stop of Horwitz’s journey was in Salisbury, North Carolina. Here, he met Sue and Ed Curtis who introduced him to the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. These two groups consisted of people from different backgrounds: a doctor, factory worker, gun-shop owner, etc. The only thing these people had in common was their ancestry; they all had blood ties to someone who fought in the Civil War. Their ancestors fought in the war to preserve their honor and they were fighting for what they believed in, which was state sovereignty. Horwitz was invited to attend a Sons of Confederate Veteran’s meeting they had to celebrate Lee and Jackson’s birthdays. The main event of the meeting was a Lee-Jackson trivia quiz. Though it is a captivating game where one can learn facts about these two distinguishing men of the Civil War, it is just a game. It has no relevance for remembering the Civil War for what it truly was. The members are remembering certain Confederate men of the war, not the whole war entirely. At this meeting, Horwitz met several different men and had questions for them. Horwitz went see the owner of the gun shop to get h... ... middle of paper ... ...hose to sacrifice to stand up for what they believed in, whether it was right or wrong. Hodge also admits to Horwitz that reenacting was a way for him to escape from the twentieth century and all the complicating matters life brings (H-209-281). Horwitz does not believe that racism is an omnipresent characteristic in the different ways the Civil War is remembered, but he does recognize that it plays a very crucial role in the memory of the Civil War. He meets several different people (Connor, Wells, and Hodge) that show great respect and recognize the importance of the war. In his work, Horwtiz shows that some individuals and activities are more racist than others. These activities are usually performed by people who lack the knowledge of the true reason the Civil War occurred. These unfortunate people show great stupidity and thoughtlessness in their actions.
From what we know about war is that it is bloody and violent, but many history books lean away from that image they tell us how many deaths there are how long the war lasted and why the war happened, which is important but doesn’t tell the whole story. I feel that American’s memory recall the Civil War as the war that ended slavery. Ambrose Bierce Recalls his Experience at the Battle of Shiloh, 1881 explains the horrific experience of the Civil War soldiers and paints a gruesome image of what went on in the Battle of Shiloh. Bierce showed us that the battle was terrifying “The air was full of noises” “There were deep, shaking explosions and smart shocks; the whisper of stray bullets and the hurtle of conical shells; the rush of round shot.”
Book summary: Confederates in the Attic addresses the life of Tony Horwitz: a man from the North, who decided to take an expedition down South to figure out how the Civil War affected America. As Horwitz illustrates in Confederates in the Attic, the Civil War is far from over. Horwitz, determined to find the answers to this conflict, treks through the South, seeking to explain man's longtime obsession with a war that divided the nation. Speaking to historians and Civil War reenactors of all kinds, he finds that people are still contemporarily split when it comes to the war and current complications in society. On his endeavour, He collects an abundant amount of information, which created a challenge when attempting to draw a broad conclusion. Horwitz learns how contrasting the views of the war are between the north and south. He learns the way people use history to suit their own personal needs, and explores the problems of race. While I believe Confederates in the Attic is an excellent calligraphy on the ongoing history ...
Horwitz’s journey initially leads him to various historical events and locations in the Carolinas, such as Lee-Jackson Day in North Carolina, Fort Sumter in South Carolina, a Union Soldier monument in Kingstree, South Carolina. At each location, Horwitz sets the tone by detailing the history of the location and the people he meets on his travels in a very descriptive, yet nonchalant manner. His tangential experiences set the story in motion and captivates the reader. Horwitz’s developments in Kingstree intrigued me especially, considering my proximity to such historic locations. Much of Horwitz’s experiences were shrouded in mystery, which he details to a great extent. After his experiences in the Carolinas, Horwitz journeyed to the border of Kentucky and Tennessee, a hotbed of racial tensions over the recent Michael Westerman shooting. Horwitz lengthily discusses the polarization of the views in the locations he visits and begins to compare them to the locations he previously visited. Next Horwitz journeys to various battle sites, meeting with famed historian Shelby Foote in the
What This Cruel War Was Over evaluates the American Civil War through the eyes of both northern and southern soldiers. By examining the conflict through this lens, Chandra Manning delivers a narrative with intricacies that explore an in-depth perspective to a greater degree than other authors have in the past. Revealing how men thought about slavery and the Civil War frames her book, and the examples she utilizes to fulfill her goal in arguing her thesis conveys an original body of work. Additionally, several of the concepts established in the author’s book are also discussed through various methods in other books.
The Civil War era divided the United States of America to a point that many Americans did not foresee as plausible throughout the antebellum period. Generating clear divisions in even the closest of homes, the era successfully turned businessmen, farmers, fathers, sons, and even brothers into enemies. Many historians would concur that the Reconstruction Era ushered in a monumental turning point in the nation’s history. The common rhetoric of what the Reconstruction Era was like according to historians is that it was a euphoric era. Those same historians often write about the Reconstruction Era as a time of optimism and prosperity for African Americans. Attempting to illustrate the era in a favorable light, they often emphasize the fact that African Americans had gotten the emancipation that they were fighting for and they were free to create a future for themselves. Jim Downs, author of Sick From Freedom African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction, is not like those historians at all. Downs takes a completely different approach in his book. He asserts that both the Civil War Era and
The Civil War was one of the most horrific confrontations that Americans have faced, killing close to 620,000 soldiers. Culture is a big influence in the way a society performs. The North and the South had different cultures from the beginning. They came from different economies, social structures, customs and political values. Each side had advantages and disadvantages. The cultures of each side helped them continue going forward during the Civil War. The main issue of accepting slavery became the core conflict between the two sides. My mission in this case study is to explain the different cultures of the North vs the South, and how their beliefs impacted the Civil War.
The 1989 film Glory is a classic Civil War film based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The film focuses on the courage displayed by the first black regiment in the Civil War, also known as the “Fighting Fifty-fourth.” The regiment headed by the admirable Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Matthew Broderick, must overcome an enormous amount of adversity during the war. The film was daring for filmmakers Zwick and Fields because it was a film not only with, “vivid and frightening battle scenes and finely etched dramatic characters, but a film that shattered the great Civil War taboo-it told a story of African Americans(Chadwick). Many articles and texts leading up to the film failed to mention the participation of African Americans in the Civil War. In fact, the participation of African Americans helped turn the course of the war and nearly 300,000 fought for the North.
On Easter of 1873 the city of Colfax experienced what is considered to be the last, but bloodiest battle of the Civil War and the end of the Reconstruction Era. This devastating event is known as the Colfax Massacre. In hopes of intimidating African Americans to keep them from voting, the Colfax Massacre resulted in the deaths of hundreds of black men. All of the incidents that occurred in the narrative were a result of the racism whites had against African-Americans which makes this one of the major themes of the book. The prevalence of racism in Colfax leads to many violent outbreaks, thus making violence a reoccurring theme in the narrative. In Nicholas Lemann’s work, Redemption: The Last Battle of The Civil War, Lemann illustrates the themes of racism, and the
Black soldiers were among the bravest of those fighting in the Civil War. Both free Blacks in the Union army and escaped slaves from the South rushed to fight for their freedom and they fought with distinction in many major Civil War battles. Many whites thought Blacks could not be soldiers. They were slaves. They were inferior. Many thought that if Blacks could fight in the war it would make them equal to whites and prove the theory of slavery was wrong. Even though Black soldiers had to face much discrimination during the Civil War, they were willing to fight to the death for their freedom. In the movie “Glory“ the director focused on the African Americans in the north that fought in the 54th regiment led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. During the time of the Civil War, the African Americans that fought in the 54th regiment were often treated unfairly but there were always nice people that backed them up.
Horwitz begins his journey in the South, coinciding his trip with the dates of specific battles. After coming across many Civil War enthusiasts, he finds that the South has a very different perception of the battles and overall meaning of the war. There is still an "us against them" sentiment, as southerners continue to feel their way of life is threatened.
The Civil War, a period of four years in the United States filled with bloody combat, thousands of casualties, and the destruction of much of Southern infrastructure. Although the Civil War had various causes (economy, politics, etc.), it mainly originated from the pressing issue of slavery at the time, mainly its expansion into the Western territories. As we all know, slavery was one of the most horrific times in our nation’s history, yet it was a typical and normal thing for the people of the 19th century. The film, Glory (1989), directed by Edward Zwick, doesn’t necessarily depict the horrors of slavery, however it does show 19th century America’s attitude toward African Americans, as well as the average African American’s hunger for freedom. The film begins with its protagonist, Colonel Shaw, being found by gravedigger John Rawlins (who later becomes a soldier in the Civil War). He is sent to a field hospital, and after he’s clear to leave, he visits his family at their plantation, where he meets Frederick Douglass, and is offered the position of Colonel for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. He accepts the promotion, and invites his old friend, Major Forbes, to be his right hand man in leading the infantry. He accepts as well, and soon after, black soldiers quickly volunteer, of these including Rawlins, Searles, Trip, etc., which will become important factors in the plot of the movie. Throughout the film, it is clear how each character is very different from each other, for example, Private Trip, is very stubborn and rude, while Private Searles is much more calm, peaceful, and weakish. Yet as the plot progresses, the characters slowly and gradually mold into different personalities, some going through more changes than others. ...
For generations students have been taught an over-simplified version of the civil war and even now I am just coming to a full understanding of the truth. The civil war was a terrible rift in our nation, fought between the northern states (known as the union) and the southern states (the Confederate States of America). The people’s opinions were so divided over the issues of the civil war that, in some families, brother was pit against brother. Eventually, the south succumbed to the north and surrendered on April 9th, 1865 but not before the war had caused 618,000 deaths, more than any other war in U.S. history.(1) In truth, many believe this horrible war was fought purely over the issue of slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not denying that slavery was a major cause and issue of the civil war, but social and economic differences as well as states’ rights were just as important issues and I will be discussing all three.
First let us examine the cultural implications the Civil War had on us today. Today in America we are we are shaped as a culture by diversity, and dreams. By diversity I mean we are a culture that though, dominantly white, is full of many ethnicities of pe...
The Civil War Period has always been the primary hub of teaching in any American History classes. The era between the American Revolution and the Civil War was of a great importance since it has been the best and worst part of the western civilization during those times. The limelight was theirs when we turn back the pages of history. Consequently, slavery as an economic system and as a moral disgrace is one of the very most scandalous trend after the coming of the war. Prominent people had actual arguments about whether they are either pro-slavery or abolitionist, thus making the system even worse. Colonization to constraint of slavery on its natural eventual downfall is not merely the case now. Today, normal people have the same opinion about the moral repugnancy of slavery, and are left with a more complex idea about why many people supported the institution of slavery and why it was so difficult to eliminate that "peculiar institution."
The Civil War was a fight against slavery in the mid to late 1800s. When the North won and abolished slavery, the South still had the mindset of slavery; they thought that black people or previous slaves were below them like they had always been. Different black people had different responses to this heinous behavior by the white Southerners. Some accepted the discriminatory treatment by the whites while others wanted vengeance for the belittling treatment as slaves. In the book The Marrow of Tradition, there are multiple black characters who exhibit different responses to the racism shown in different events throughout the novel. These characters, Dr. Miller, Josh Greene, and Jerry are greatly affect by slavery and racism as shown throughout the book.