Battle Cry of Freedom

The American Civil War has become a point of controversy and argument when discussing key events in shaping America. The arguments that arise when discussing the war tend to focus on whether the Confederate was constitutionally justified in seceding, or whether the North had the right to prevent the secession. However, when discussing the America Civil War and the idea of separation, it is important to be mindful that separation did not simply end at the state level. Letters written by Jesse Rolston, Jr. and Jedediah Hotchkiss portray two significantly different attitudes toward the war, despite the fact that the writers both fought for the Confederate States and give accounts of the same battle, one of which ended in the Confederate’s favor. When examining the documents, both writers express different viewpoints on life on and off the battlefield. This significant difference represents a division amongst the Confederate army.

The American Civil war is considered to be one of the most defining moments in American history. It is the war that shaped the social, political and economic structure with a broader prospect of unifying the states and hence leading to this ideal nation of unified states as it is today. In the book “Confederates in the Attic”, the author Tony Horwitz gives an account of his year long exploration through the places where the U.S. Civil War was fought. He took his childhood interest in the Civil War to a new level by traveling around the South in search of Civil War relics, battle fields, and most importantly stories. The title “Confederates in the Attic”: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War carries two meanings in Tony Horwitz’s

The Confederacy and the Union tried to take control in many ways. During Antietam, both sides tried to advance to the other side of a cornfield. More American generals were killed than all of World War 2. It took place at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Had the fighting not happened, we might not have won.

In Hope of Liberty embodies a very thorough and complex narrative of Northern free blacks. James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton deliver to readers a detailed synthesis of several decades of information that pertains to early American history. The text ventures through social, political, and cultural movements that were occurring before the Civil War era. The Hortons not only demonstrate the importance of black’s presence throughout the text but some of the contribution and the roles that led to such a vibrant culture in America. It 's through the analysis of these wonderful sources and experience of free black Northerners, that reader and historians can have a better interpretation and revision of the building of this early nation.

In Confederates in the Attic, the author, Tony Horwitz, gives an interesting, historical, and semi-humorous take on the Civil War, taking us on his journey through places and people that resonate the Civil War, a journey he called the hardcore campaign of his own. Throughout this adventure, Horwitz’s obsession with the Civil War is supplemented by reenactors who call themselves “hardcores,” historians, museums, Daughters of the Confederacy, teachers, and battlefields, along with everyday people who express their views and knowledge of the War. As Horwitz takes his readers through his journey, he brings to light the idea that the Civil War is “unfinished” for many Americans. This idea is explained and discussed through many of his encounters.

In his conclusion, McPherson answer what may lead one to ask if the American Civil War was indeed an extraordinary revolution, one whose likes the world had ever seen. The answer lies in the exact opposite of revolution. Counterrevolution occurred at first chance which in so many ways blanketed the revolutionary characteristics to the best of its applicability. From 1865 to 1866, immediately after the war, black codes began to surface. The purpose of these codes were to keep black labor in a state of dependence and subjection as close to slavery as possible. These codes appeared in the forms of vagrancy laws, contract labor laws the subjected freedmen to peonage and sharecropping, and violence. This code also makes for the final piece of evidence toward support of McPherson’s goal in categorizing the American Civil War as a revolution. Southern redeemers, after the withdrawal of northern Republican interest, went through great lengths to counter evolve them. Why would that be? In order to

the north denying constitutional rights such as a fair and speedy trial. The song could have

The Battle of Antietam had a tremendous impact on the American people's future. Between the other battles of the Civil War this was a turning point in history as a result of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation and to expand the primary interest of the war unity nationwide, also the involvement of abolishing slavery.

The winner for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for his book Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson, is a great american civil war historian. Born in Valley City, North Dakota on October 11, 1936 McPherson attended St. Peter High School. After graduation he attended Gustavus Adolphus College and in 1958 earned his bachelor’s degree with Magnum Cum Laude. He later attended John Hopkins University and earned his Ph.D. in 1963 and is now currently working as Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. McPherson is most well known for his work Battle Cry of Freedom, but he has wrote a number of other well known books including Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief. In 2009 James was a co-winner for the Lincoln Prize for this same book, and elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

McPherson begins the Battle Cry of Freedom by describing a violently divided society of the republic at midcentury. As chaotic as it may have been, no one would have believed it was so terrible that a civil

The era of Reconstruction was a fourteen-year period following the Civil War filled with political and constitutional strife, extreme suffering, grand political ambitions and huge turns in race relations and human rights (Blight 32). During this period, many Americans realized that remembering the war “became, with time, easier than struggling over the enduring ideas for which those battles had been fought” (Blight 31). To people such as Frederick Douglass, a reborn United States could not

For over a century, many writers and historians theorized that the Confederate loss during the Civil War was, in fact, inevitable, and that they were only fighting a losing war against an overwhelming invading force. This idea shows the southern gentleman, in his honor, taking up arms against what was obviously a superior foe in order to preserve their state’s rights, their families, and their homes, with no hope of coming out the victor in the contest. This is a romantic notion of a time forgotten where gentlemen fought a barbaric would-be conquering force in order that their economic tyranny be forced upon the southern gentleman. This can be countered by the fact that they were only looking for a way to soothe their own defeat, that

Following the Civil War came a period of regrowth and rebuilding known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction can be broken into different sections and types, one of which is Congressional, or Radical, Reconstruction. There are many scholarly debates about Congressional Reconstruction and its failures, successes, and its overall logistics. Another common debate concerning the Reconstruction period is its purpose and what the intentions of its instigators were. This paper will be discussing an article written by Frederick Douglass entitled Reconstruction. In this article Douglass discusses the Congressional session taking place in 1866. He calls upon the Congressmen to undo the "blunders" of the previous

We are introduced to Peyton Farquhar, a member of the Alabama plantation nobility. Mr.Farquhar was a man who, like many other well-to-do southerners, supported secession from the Union ever since the idea was first brought up. He believed ardently in the spirit of the South, and would have gladly given his life for the cause of the Confederacy. However, due to extenuating circumstances, he was unable to pursue the “opportunity for distinction” which he believed to be so ripe and proliferous in wartime. Until, that is, an exhausted soldier steered his mount up to the gate of Mr.Farquhar’s home. This dusty, trail-beaten soldier came to the massive estate of the Mr. & Mrs. Farquhar for a simple glass of water, which the lady of the house, being so humble as she was, gladly poured for him. While he was waiting on his much needed refreshment, the lord of the plantation and the worn out soldier began to talk, and Peyton Farquhar learned from this man of a railroad that the Union was planning to build so that it might assist them in an adroit capture of the South.

Shelby Foote, a southern novelist turned historian, uses the prologue in The Civil War, a three book, three thousand page epic on America’s most seminal moment, to introduce the war’s leading figures, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Foote uses the words of poet John Keats, “A fact is not a truth until you love it.” to describe his view on history. Using this axiom, Foote attempts to change the reader’s mind on their understanding of Lincoln and Davis. Not only does he want to prove to us that using primary sources in his analysis of Lincoln and Davis will give us a better understanding of the two, but he wants us to appreciate his techniques as well. He juxtaposes the two presidents, providing an authentic glimpse into their character