Civil War Dbq
Kathie Kaidan 4/14/10 HST 202 Paper #2 There is much controversy and uncertainty about the reasons of why the Civil War started, and why it went on for so long. The Civil War is unusual not only in American History, but in world history as well because of the intensity and carnage of it. Men were taking up arms against their neighbors, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends to meet on the field of battle with only one mission: to kill one another. James McPherson wondered this, so he researched over 25,000 uncensored letters to friends and family, and almost 250 private diaries from soldiers fighting for the Confederacy and soldiers fighting for the Union. He then took what he learned and wrote the book For Cause and Comrades, and found
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Even after seeing the “elephant”, a metaphor used by McPherson in place of battle, the men remained determined to fight. They came to realize that courage meant to stand up against and conquer their fear, not just feeling fear itself. It was at its worse before the battle had even begun. Once it began only their courage and adrenaline could keep them going. They also began of noticing ways to relieve their tension. One way was yelling at the top of their lungs, and this it to be thought as the origin of the famous Rebel Yell. The men didn’t understand the changing in their body chemistry, so they were dumbfounded when they could overcome illness, disabilities, and sometimes-even wounds in order to …show more content…
These were the things that took up most of the soldiers’ lives; fighting in battle was only a small percentage. McPherson quoted a major in the 11th Georgia on his definition of what courage was in 1863; “…not as merely bravery in battle, but also the nerve to endure rain, and snow, and sleet, and the privations of Winter, and the scorching sun of Summer…to undergo extreme fatigue, to subdue the pains of hunger… to do battle with sickness and despondency and gloom as with the Country’s enemies. And above all to hold one’s self patiently and cheerfully ready to meet the shocks of battle” (McPherson,
Even after seeing the “elephant”, a metaphor used by McPherson in place of battle, the men remained determined to fight. They came to realize that courage meant to stand up against and conquer their fear, not just feeling fear itself. It was at its worse before the battle had even begun. Once it began only their courage and adrenaline could keep them going. They also began of noticing ways to relieve their tension. One way was yelling at the top of their lungs, and this it to be thought as the origin of the famous Rebel Yell. The men didn’t understand the changing in their body chemistry, so they were dumbfounded when they could overcome illness, disabilities, and sometimes-even wounds in order to …show more content…
These were the things that took up most of the soldiers’ lives; fighting in battle was only a small percentage. McPherson quoted a major in the 11th Georgia on his definition of what courage was in 1863; “…not as merely bravery in battle, but also the nerve to endure rain, and snow, and sleet, and the privations of Winter, and the scorching sun of Summer…to undergo extreme fatigue, to subdue the pains of hunger… to do battle with sickness and despondency and gloom as with the Country’s enemies. And above all to hold one’s self patiently and cheerfully ready to meet the shocks of battle” (McPherson,