Essay On Children's Participation In The Civil War

The name Civil War is misleading because the war was not a class struggle, but a sectional combat, having its roots in political, economic, social, and psychological elements. It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the “irrepressible conflict.” In another judgment the Civil War was viewed as criminally stupid, an unnecessary bloodletting brought on by arrogant extremists and blundering politicians. Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that, rightly or wrongly, had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means.

Drummer Boys played a valuable role in the war. They supported the troops by: 1) completing camp chores to free the men for more difficult tasks, and 2) They played duty calls and signals to tell the soldiers what to do during combat and played marching music to boost troop morale. 3) They helped sustain order and discipline. The drummer boys were from the thirteen colonies. They were often enlisted by their parents or if they were a slave by their master. Some slaves volunteered so that they could earn their freedom. The drummer boys also enlisted because they were very patriotic. The age range of the drummer boys was sixteen to twenty although there younger drummers who were twelve to fourteen years old.

Many inspired and encouraged the young boys to join the army as drummer boys. These drummer boys were all under 18 and too young to be considered men, but still members of the army. They were officially said to have never partaken in any battles, but many felt compelled to toward the end of the war as Union soldiers invaded the South (Articles). All young children attended school and were taught to have massive amounts of patriotism by their teachers, being the main reason they were all so eager to take part in the fight

In this historical text, Reluctant Witnesses: Children’s Voices from the Civil War, Emmy Werner retells the events of the Civil War through the eyes of children who are male, female, black, and white. Werner worked to sift through the reactions and experiences of the young men and women who were involved in the Civil War. Each chapter articulates a different portion of the battle and the events during the Civil War. Chapter two, five, six, eight, and nine capture the eye-witness accounts from young soldiers and young women who lived through the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Gettysburg, the siege of Vicksburg, the burning of Atlanta, and Sherman’s march to the sea. Chapter three, four, seven, and ten depict the responses the young children had at Andersonville, during the bread riots, the triumph at Washington D.C., and the voices of the former slaves of the south. Werner thrived to increase the knowledge on the involvement of children within the Civil War. Werner’s historical picture was to present the realities children faced on and off the field of battle. Werner’s argument focused on children’s perspective of the Civil War. She supports her claim by providing diary, letter, and journal excerpts from one hundred and twenty children ages four to sixteen, by being focused on their subjective experiences of the hardships they endured and how they managed to cope with them drawing, where appropriate, parallels to the experiences of children in contemporary civil strife.

Children as young as 4-5 could be spotted selling newspapers. During the war many jobs that women and children were both banned from previously had a large gap left in the workforce. Factories were made to charge child labour laws, through the war these laws were suddenly gone leaving factories to hire children and women. Children, like women, worked on ammunition factories. With the war becoming very popular, teens and adolescents lied about their age and went into the military. Many young men/ boys fought in the war. Their dedication helped to change the tide of the war in the direction of the American allies along with the support of the men. Another way children would help was through helping on family farms and locally to grow produce, this labour replaced their fathers and or

KYLE P-ROLE PLAY- Man guys those soldiers really have it tough. I just saw a 12 year old boy on the confederacy side fighting in the civil war. The life of being a soldier turned out to be way different than I expected. We don’t even have enough food and medicine for us to live.

Children have changed from the 1950s to the twentieth century because of how the world around them as been to impact their growth. During the Civil War era, many children were forced to work because of poverty levels. In the early part of the twentieth century, street children and working children in factories and mines did not receive a protected childhood. They were forced to grow up, lose the innocence of being a child, and become a primary or secondary provider for their families. This changed when high schools began to give most teenagers the status of a protected childhood during the time of the Great Depression. The 1950s were a prime time for many American children because the impact of divorces, a low number of women in the work force, high birth rates, increased family incomes, and the development of child-centered suburbs changed outlooks and living conditions for many young individuals. Social conditions back then, “created the image of a child- centered society with stay at home mothers forcing their attention on child rearing” (Spring 352). The ideals of gender roles are heavily influence as Spring talks about how boys must be masculine and how, “the stress on gender differences in the 1950s gave way to an emphasis on gender equality” (Spring 353).

Ishmael Beah and Grace Akallo Like hundreds if not thousands of other child soldiers, Ishmael Beah suffered the devastation of war and conflict in an African country. This country in particular is Sierra Leone, a former British colony that was left with no concrete government. The history of Sierra Leone and how the 10 year war in the country started is rarely mentioned in A Long Way Gone. Whether the historical and political aspect of the war is purposely omitted from the memoir or never explored by Ishmael Beah is never mentioned in the story.

The Civil War can be described as one of the bloodiest and gruesome war ever fought on American soil. The Civil War was fought between the Union and the Confederates. The Civil War lasted for 5 years and during that 5 year period many people ended up dying, 620,000 people to be exact and millions injured, but while the numbers can be appalling; it isn 't even the beginning. The war led a schism to happen in the U.S, the whole country was divided and devastated. Abraham Lincoln the president who helped lead the Union against the Confederates, knew that the only way to make the U.S functional and great again was to join both sides back together during this time period after the civil war, which would later come to be known as reconstruction.

Many Children were involved with during war. Some children had their Dads enlisted to the war that had caused them to help their Moms out with many chores. Other children had lost their Dads do to fighting for the war. Lots of children had also lost both their parents and was sent to an orphanage. Teens had soon found out about how simple it was to enlist for duty in the war, and many teens (boys) enlisted to help.

The Civil War was fought in many different places. About 620,000 soldiers were lost. Abraham Lincoln accomplished a lot when he was president. He was a great leader. This war started because the South attacked the U.S. at Fort Sumter and it ended with the United States as winners. We did face many consequences during the war but we came out

Some women served as nurses in the armies helping wounded soldiers who got shot a lot and got bombed during the battles so the soldiers can recover and go back in the battle. Women work very hard to help their family a lot , like the sons and their fathers. During the civil war the kids who were 18 and older have to join the war. A crazy fact is the 30 million people live in the united states at the time and 21 million were in the north and 9 million in the south. During the battle of gettysburg 50 thousand people has found dead it was one of the bloodiest battles in the civil war during that time. The winner of the battle during the civil war in gettysburg was the confederacy and they were 12 bloodiest battle of the civil war it was bigger then the ball run and franklin combined. Each day of the battle it has killed more and more people at least more than 50 thousand. The main reason the north one because general robert e lee march his way to virginia to Pennsylvania in late June 1863, and the south was tired and they didn't have stuff to eat and the north was healthy read to fight the battle.the Confederacy lost the American civil war not because it fought badly but because the union had more men and guns indeed more everything, so the union lost most of his

In the Civil War the North had many advantages over the South. The South was outnumbered, out supplied, and pushed into a corner using military tactics. Many things changed because of the Civil War. The military tactics used by the North changed how war was fought from then on. Many changes were made politically; some were only temporary, while others were permanent. After the war was over, the country was reunited and the image of the soul and duty of our country redefined.

As Juliet Gardiner, a British historian and commentator on British social history, said, “The forgotten victims of World War Two were the children.” (Gardiner 2005). Some children are not acknowledged for their sacrifices due to how young they are. Many people believe that children are inexperienced, however, that is incorrect. Although children were not approved to enlist in both World Wars, they were still able to contribute to the war effort.

Some children are under the age of 9. - Children who are not forced into child soldiers usually volunteer themselves. - Child soldiers are one of the worst forms of child labour. Thank You For Listening, Hoped You