The Role Of Children During The Civil War

The tragedies and hardships of the Civil War touch the lives of every citizen, including children. With many of the men away at war, women and children were left to fend for themselves through these hardships on the home front. Children of all races and circumstances experienced their share of struggles. Fear was a dominant emotion among Southern children, particularly the fear of invasions by the Union army. There was a constant threat of physical violence, death, and separation of family. Conscription and evacuations threatened to separate families. Raids resulted in physical violence, destruction of property, and theft. Even if there was no threat of physical harm, the war could interrupted day-to-day life through acts such as

The Civil War made really a tragic long lasting effect on a family unit of that period. During Civil War, families on both sides of the war had to bear a pain of personal loss. Husbands and fathers and sons died not in hundreds but in thousands of numbers in both the North and South

Children, teens, and men were pretty much pulled from their homes to fight in the civil war and had to fought for their country. Literally brothers, cousins, and uncles were shooting and killing each other. The civil was a nasty, violent, long war that changed a lot of lives and it was one of the most tragic wars in American history. The southern states were separated into military distracts, and couldn’t join back with the union until they applied. The civil changed the heart of the US, the entire social life of the south was redid when the civil war ended. That was the cause of the passing of the 13th Amendment, which freed millions of African Americans and slavery died. Pretty the day after that slaves and their masters were equal

The Civil War in the United States was one of the most significant events in the history of the country. This is due not only to the outcome it provided, but more importantly to the actual events that took place during the war, the aspects it dealt with, and the questions it raised concerning humanity, courage, democracy, human rights, slavery, unity and union. Throughout the war, the causes, the tactics, and the context changed. Further, the motivation of the soldiers fighting in both armies changed in a decisive manner. Despite all, this remains one of the bloodiest events in the history of the American states.

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.

The Civil War continues to fascinate the American public some 150 years after the great conflict ended. It was a struggle that directly affected almost every American living during those turbulent years. Visit any small southern town’s local cemeteries and you will most likely find graves decorated with confederate flags in honor of those who served the Confederacy. National battlefields and parks set aside to preserve lands so many fought and died on can be found in every state that engaged in the great struggle. How so many young Americans found themselves caught up in the violent divide which gripped the country is the question that seems to consume the United States even today. There is no doubt that Slavery was the central issue leading

The Civil War was known as the most bloodiest war. It resulted in 620,000 deaths and more than millions injured. The Civil War was a conflict with the Union against the Confederate states of America. The civil war mainly started because of conflicts between the free states and the slaves states. People did not want slaves in territories that were not yet states. In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the presidency. He wanted slavery out of territories. As a result, the south seceded to form the Confederate states of America. Life during the Civil War was horrific because the conditions were detrimental Life in the military camps was as deleterious as it was on the battlefield.

The Civil War was also called the Boys War because of the large number of boys entering the war. Although there was age restrictions for both sides, young boys found ways to get around it. One thing they would do is lie about their age to recruitment officers. Recruitment officers would not care about the lie because they had to meet a deadline. Another way to get around it will be to get parental permission some dads would sign their sons up cause the dads would also be going to war. The last way kids get around this is that they would run away from homes to get recruited in another town and rename themselves so there parents won’t find them but the downside to this is that they would never be heard of again if they die in battle.

While the central theme of the war was slavery, men on both sides had different approaches to the war. The North mainly fought to preserve the constitution and to maintain order while the South would fight for honor and the right to not become oppressed. The South felt that the North was becoming like a tyrannical government and decided to fight back much like how the forefathers fought back during the revolutionary war. The Civil War had a much deeper meaning behind it. Slavery was not the only issue that these men were fighting for and McPherson manages to illustrate this perfectly through numerous letters he gathered from soldiers. These men had patriotic reasons to fight. Whether it was about slavery or honor, the American Civil War was a time of hardship and struggling on both sides. The wounds of the nation would take time to heal but we managed to move on and eventually become a single union once

The Civil War can barely be called “humane”, but it was key to bringing out the human side in many people. Women, children, and African Americans were among these people who changed the ways of society at that time.

Why would the confederates and the union not take good care of our soldiers dead bodies if they fought for their country? They should stop dragging Soldiers around and give them a proper good bye because they fought for our country, and bury them well and show respect to them and their family.

Lt.  Col. Dave Grossman is a former army Ranger, paratrooper, and west point psychology professor. Grossman is a world renown expert in the field of human aggression and the psychology of combat (Grossman et. al, 2007). In his book, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, he talks about non-firing rate. Non-firing rate is the percentage of soldiers who freeze up during combat, and do not fire their weapon. There has been documentation of non-firing rate dating back to 1863, during the American Civil War. There is even documentation to prove that both World War I and II soldiers displayed the same consistence in failing to fire their weapons; but why is this important?  The weapons had the proficiency to kill, but the soldier holding the weapon did not. All the documentation of soldier’s inability to fire their weapon indicates that there is a psychological power greater than military training (Gorssman et. al., 1995). This force acts as a blockade, preventing man from standing before man, and engaging in the conscious act of taking the life of a person. Even when faced with the decision to kill the man standing before him, or be killed, evidence shows that man will be killed before he kills (Grossman et. al., 1995). Thus, providing the evidence needed to indicate humans are not born with the capability to kill. Engaging in combat has taken a tole on the mental well being of the military service members.

Women and the Aftermath of the Civil War Women played a huge role in the Civil War. When the men went off to battle, women stepped in place of the men’s jobs. With America growing and industries being developed, someone needed to take over and the women did. This was their first experience in becoming independent working women. Women helped in many ways, they became nurses and travelled with the soldiers, caring for them, feeding them and other things.

An easy way to see the modern-day effects of the Civil War is in classrooms across the United States. Tony Horwitz in his book Confederates in the Attic found himself interacting with three different types of students. The first was a group of home-schooled children touring the capital building in Montgomery, Alabama. All white with conservative parents, they decided to create their kid’s curriculum from a Christian perspective, in this case teaching their children that slavery was not a big deal in starting the war. The kids were excited and visibly intrigued by the tour, but their gaps in knowledge became evident to Horwitz the longer he talked with the parents (355). The next class was taught by Rose Sanders, the director of the Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama, a museum dedicated to commemorating the gaining of rights by African Americans. In an attempt to help the black out of the area Sanders created a high school specially for black teenagers who dropped out of high school. Horwitz, upon visiting realized the deep-seeded anger installed in these

To be a child during the Great War, I wouldn’t have as much fun as I do in this time. Children during the Great War were separated from their parents so that they can be trained for other things. Such as boys were trained and forced to participate in war while girls worked in factories, became maid, farmed, and so on. If I were to put myself in a kid’s shoes during the Great War, I would be very depressed to be working and not spending time with my family. I would be also very lonely and sadden by many other things around me.