Personal Narrative-It Isn T Big To Make Others Feel Small

“I was obsessed with the Civil War because six hundred thousand people had died in it. And yet is had been glossed over in my education, and in pop culture” (Coates 99). It did not surprise me that the Civil War was not taught in depth to Coates, because it was not taught in depth to me. It also did not surprise me that Coates became obsessed with the Civil War due to its history and his curious personality.

The Civil War’s effects on America can be interpreted differently depending on time period. Tony Horwitz’s 150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War examines different views historians possessed when examining the war. With this trend in mind textbook American History: Connecting with the Past by Alan Brinkley presents a specific view on the war. Brinkley portrays the civil war inaccurately by deemphasizing of the Emancipation Proclamation, casualties , and failure to explain the war’s impact on the south; this discrepancy glorifies the war’s outcome by disregarding negative effects.

When hearing a story for the first time, a person will take different things away from it, depending on their own experiences and the frame set by the storyteller. The same can be said of the American Civil War. Through historical sources, such as Tony Horwitz’s book Confederates in the Attic and the film CSA: Confederates in the Attic, today’s generation can see different sides of the Civil War including why people fought and how they recovered after.

He wanted to share all of the feelings that were still lived in this vivid, complex pool of feelings and views on what had happened that would change America forever. Horwitz’s finds a variety of people who are still attached to the story of the Civil War, as it provides for Vidal information and feelings for those who still couldn’t get away from studying and keeping alive the stories, talks, and history of the Civil War that happened in America.

The memory of the Civil War is vital for history and needs to be taught and preserved, so that the current and future citizens of the world can learn from others’ mistakes and take time to remember the lives that were lost.

Dragging himself to a sitting position he drags his hands over his face and hair. Pushing himself to his feet he stumbles, making his way to the table. He reads the note, leaving it where it lays as he pulls a bottle out of his pack and staggers back to his bed.

At first when I arrived at the Battle Field I could still see the decaying piles of bodies that this Battle Field was being turned into a memorial for. All of the people around me were just trying to make sence of the scene. One person was complaining to his slaves that they did not need to be listening to the junk that people in the Union were saying and that they should get back to work; while others jabbered that they had just heard that Lincoln was going to give a speech, I was so enthusiastic when I heard this, I could not wait to get to see what Lincoln’s thoughts were on the war, although I already knew most of them. Lincoln’s thoughts on the war were that the war was to keep the Union together. Lincoln had not yet said anything about the wart being about slavery,

History of the American Civil War, a class like no other. When the I began to embark on the journey to learn about our American Civil War, I did so with an infancy of learning from my times in elementary, high school, and the basic history classes here at the University. The amazing venture I took through this class opened my mind to a better understanding of what and why the Civil War took place. From a perspective I have never heard of, PIE R/V, one can ascertain certain aspects you may not fully pick up otherwise. This methodology makes one look harder at the facts and what contributed they may have on the history in which you are studying. This class was broken down into three major themes as pointed out on this final exam, but from those themes, I will take you and myself through these themes to show my understanding of what transpired over the entirety of this course.

The American Civil War raged on between 1861 and 1864, pitting the Northern States against the Southern States. There was great tension that had been building up for several reasons, and the biggest issue was slavery in the South. Southerners fought to keep their slaves, while Northerners wanted to eliminate the spread of slavery. These letters show the shift in gender roles, feelings toward the enemy, and the experiences the soldiers had during the war.

Americans primarily know the Civil War today as a war between northern states and southern states. The war began because each side perceived its liberty to be at risk. However, the fight underlined core differences between the beliefs of the North and South. “I could easily prove that almost all the differences which may be noticed between characters of the Americans in the Southern and in the Northern states have originated in slavery”, said Alexis De Tocqueville while visiting the United States in the 1800’s (Keene, p. 270). What began as a fight for liberty soon became a fight over the institution of slavery. Both sides had different interpretations of enslavement and the moral questions involved with the topic. The book What They Fought For addresses these questions in profound detail using letters from members of both the Union and Confederate army.

The thought of war can make anyone feel uneasy but, a nation going to war with itself proves to be challenging. The American Civil War was a bad time in our nation’s history. The North and the South fought for a mixture of reasons but the issue of slavery was among the main reasons. In James McPherson’s book titled What They Fought For, 1861-1865, it manages to inform us in the form of various primary sources what the soldiers were thinking and fighting for. Sources such as letters from soldiers illustrating what they thought the war was about, such as honor, the right to preserve slavery, and to fight off the Northern Aggression. Many individuals believe that the Civil War was fought primarily for the right to own slaves but that is not necessarily the case. James shows us how the war had a deeper meaning behind the fighting between the North and the South. These men show us how, through many diaries and letters, what they truly believed they were fighting for and why they felt the

To summarize, we discussed the “History & Myth” of the Civil War. We discussed the key events which took place in the war as well as an important individual, President Lincoln. Remember that the phrase “all men are created equal” wasn’t always the case for every American. I hope you were enlightened by these events and individual that helped shape our country into the dominant force it is

As we all headed outside to the football stadium, tension started to come through my whole body. My legs felt stiff and my hands felt as if water was running through my fingers. I was not prepared to walk across the stage. We practiced hundreds of times that morning but, it was just too hot to concentrate on what we were told to be doing. So much was going through my mind like, “What if I trip as I walk across the stage?” “Who all from my family is here?” “What am I going to eat afterwards?” I was starving because I had not eaten since 8:00 that morning. I stepped a foot onto the track circle and images went through my mind. Drops of sweat ran down my face and I tried not to look at the audience to keep myself from getting more nervous. As we stepped

The last few days of the sophomore year were winding down, and it was final exam week. Students over stressing and attempting to be organized before it's too late, there weren’t many classes to be worried about, with the exception of one. Speech and drama class, emphasis on speech. The teacher wasn’t intimidating, and neither was the work. I had many friends in that class, it was the one class that I looked forward to at the end of the day, zero stress, laughter and films of famous movies and speeches every day. However something was different about this particular week, we had to memorize the Gettysburg Address. You think that memorizing a few short paragraphs would be easy. Especially since we had been reading scripts and plays the semester beforehand. Be that as it may, I had found myself highlighting,

"Shut up!" I shout, I take the thin hair band that I've had on my wrist and tie my hair up off my neck and readjusted my dress, when I looked back up my dance partner way on all fours crawling, only about four feet away from me. I look out of the large wall window wondering how long it would take me to run out onto the beach. And get away from this man.