What They Fought For By James M. Mcpherson

A Civil War is a battle between the same citizens in a country. The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the independence for the Confederacy or the survival of the Union. By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, in the mist of 34 states, the constant disagreement caused seven Southern slave states to their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, generally known as the South, grew to include eleven states. The states that remained devoted to the US were known as the Union or the North. The number one question that is never completely understood about the Civil War is what caused the war. There were multiple events that led to the groundbreaking, bloody, and political war.

The American Civil War took place from 1861-1865 was an inevitable event in the American history. More than 640,000 people were killed and millions more were injured during this massive war. The civil war was between the northern and the southern states where its most leading cause was slavery. Along with that, economic, political and social ideologies caused the civil war. The northern states, also known as the union, were more successful and antislavery compare to the southern confederates states. The northern states were more populated, had more industries, and believed in the Declaration of Independence statement that “all men are

The Civil War was a war between the South and the North. In the South they wanted slavery, and if they were in the North they did not. The conflict arose when the North wanted to abolish slavery, and the South wanted to continue. The Civil War was a 4 year battle, in the United States. The Union and the Confederate soldiers fought from 1861 to 1865 in the Civil War.

The Civil war between the north and south was a fight sparked by conflicting ideologies. James McPherson detailed that honor, duty, patriotism and ideology formed the main sustaining motivations for the Civil War, while courage, self-respect and group cohesion kept men going in combat. Along with these McPherson In his book For Cause & Comrades McPherson describes soldiers initial motivations. The differences between the confederate and union soldiers’ motivations were more prominent than they were similar because their underlying goals for the future of America varied when it pertained to human rights.

The first side that gets addressed is the Confederate side. While there are many different reasons that the soldiers fought in this civil war, the one of the main causes was for the use of slavery. Many soldiers had the mindset to fight for “a free white man’s government instead of living under a black republican government” (53). This will to uphold the racial inequality was seen in the way the South fought with passion and hatred against the change of their lives (19). Confederate soldiers were mostly bought into the war, due to the plantation owners sending someone else in their names. Soldiers

For Cause and Comrades is a book written by James McPherson, with the help of diaries and letters written by soldiers from the Confederate and Union forces, he is able to formally detail accounts on why men fought in the civil war. Consequently, McPherson is able to shed light on the mentality and motives that soldiers possessed that made them fight in the war. Although we will never truly know why soldiers fought in the civil war, this book most definitely gives readers evidence that soldiers had certain values and morals that gave them reason to fight.

James M. McPherson, author of For Cause and Comrades, uses more than 25,000 unaltered letters and closely 250 private journals from Civil War soldiers—both Union and Confederate—in his attempt to explain what possessed these men to endure the roaring, gruesome chaos of war. What better way to express the motivation behind fighting than words straight from the pens of the men who were physically there and experienced the Civil War to its fullest? I personally feel as though McPherson succeeded in his explanation of the different driving forces that kept each man going during these difficult years of battle. The Wall Street Journal describes McPherson’s work as “an extraordinary book, full of fascinating details and moving self-portraits.”

James McPherson the author of What They Fought For 1861-1865, thesis states that the soldiers from both the North and South fought for a large extent for ideology, and not exclusively as brothers in war with other soldiers, for principles of strength or courage, and for the nations of honor and duty. McPherson uses hundreds of letters and diaries from soldiers from both the Union and Confederate troops to show their experience. He tries to focus on a variety of attitudes and motives from the volunteer soldiers. These young men coped with fear, stress, exhaustion, pain, and death everyday while out there fighting. “A final theme that will receive attention is ideology,” (McPherson 1) this is what the soldiers supposed they were fighting for during the Civil War.

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.

First, this book explains many battles and plans to regards of the Civil War. The Civil War was based on the presence of slavery in the southern states. However, the Civil War lasted for four years under the leadership of Lincoln. However, it was a very difficult at that time period. The soldiers were so starved, to the point in their life was leading toward death. They all marched until they collapsed and could not face anymore.

The Civil War was fought between the union and confederate states over the ongoing issue of slavery. When the war first began in 1861, president Lincoln issued a proclamation for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to help quell the southern insurrection. The war lasted four years and ended when the confederate states and their leader Robert E. Lee surrender to

The causes of the Civil War are somewhat unique when compared to other struggles throughout history. Conflicting ideas of liberty and political ideologies, makes one question the motives of those who gave up their lives, family, and future for such a cause. Some historians agree that the main interest for both the North and South was political in nature, arguing that if the government fell, so would the future and characteristics of both nations. This linkage of God, family, and homeland drove many to fight for their own children, but also for the future of all generations. The many diaries and personal accounts profess that soldiers felt an overwhelming sense of duty, which extended first to their closest relatives and friends, those

The reasons given for why Civil War soldiers fought are abundant, but among the vast array of motives, only a few could be taken into careful consideration. Some argue that the main interest for both the North and South was political in nature, reasoning that if the government fell, so would the future and characteristics of both nations. Consequently, some of the various diaries and personal accounts affirm that soldiers felt an overwhelming sense of duty, which extended first to their closest relatives and friends, this being the principal driving force motivating them to enlist. However, what surely remains is thousands on both sides gave up their lives for what they considered a necessary cause.

Ronald Lee Emery, retired Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps famous for his role in the movie Full Metal Jacket, once spoke about the call to battle saying, “It 's my firm conviction that when Uncle Sam calls, by God we go, and we do the best that we can.” This is a simple yet powerful quote that embodies the feeling of duty to his country that provokes ordinary citizens to leave their everyday lives behind them and join the cause to protect their country. People enlist in the armed forces for a multitude of reasons but one reoccurring reason is a feeling of duty towards protecting ones country and in the case of the civil war this was a widely spread concept. The Union and Confederate soldiers possessed deeply held ideological, political, and patriotic convictions, which were the major reasons they enlisted, fought, and remained in the ranks. McPherson claims these ideals that motivated soldiers to join the army were a combination of duty to country as well as ones comrades, personal honor, and patriotism. Furthermore he claims that ideology and images of manhood were just as important to soldier motivation as group cohesion was. McPherson’s main argument about what motivated soldiers during the war breaks down the motivations of Civil War soldiers into three categories, the initial motivation or enlistment, the “sustaining” motivation, and finally combat motivation. While different, these three motivations were all intertwined and if not strong enough could

The North and South citizens were divided because of their huge differences. The tension between them consisted of having disagreements on slavery, economical and political differences. The hate and violence against each other later on led to the infamous Civil War. The Civil War, also known as the “War Between States”, began in 1861 and lasted for four deadly years. This war of disputes and misery led to the division of the two nations, the North and the South. The three main causes of the Civil War between the North and the South were politics, economy, and slavery.