The Civil War was the most divisive war in American history. In the early 1800s, the United States experienced a growth of nationalism and unity, but it was replaced by sectionalism, leading to the Civil War. There were many reasons why the South wanted to secede, reasons the North wanted to maintain the Union, and the controversy surrounding slavery and steps taken to abolish it.…
However, Arlington has a special meaning the men and women buried here were veterans, soldiers or family of such service men. It serves as a way for the serviceman’s family to honor and remember him as a hero of America; as is every body buried under all of those headstones which stretch for acres across the beautiful scenery. Yet this cemetery isn’t only full of graves, there are many memorials and monuments such as the Civil War Unknowns Monument, Iran Rescue Mission Monument, Infantry Division Monument, and President John F. Kennedy Gravesite just to name a few. This cemetery was built to be the final resting place of honorary American service men which include nurses, astronauts and other groups directly servicing the United States of…
Though the Union and Confederate soldiers both fought for the victory of their nations, each side had its own reasoning and purpose for doing so. Soldiers relied on their families from home and in battle for encouragement. They wanted to fight not only for their nation, but for their family at home. They didn't want to let them down, alongside of their nation. Their family in regiments was just as beloved. They all felt the same pain and pride, therefore becoming closer to one another. They'd watch each other win and watch each other die. Backing out of it was the last thing they wanted to do and be considered a coward. Soldiers had rather die of honor than live a coward. They were all in it together and that bond with each other kept them from giving up. The leaves that were given gave those enlisted a break from the soldier life for a short period, which was a great privilege. The problem was that the leaves were abused and soldiers wouldn't come back when their time was up, therefore being a deserter. The government wasn't in control enough to do anything about the deserters.…
In the “Gettysburg Address,” Abraham Lincoln speaks on the deaths of the fallen soldiers. He says “,… gave their lives that that nation might live.”…
Things were rough here at the battle of Gettysburg. Today is July 4th 1863, the day after the battle ended. Brother Bob and myself fought bravely under Confederate General Robert E. Lee. At the start of the whole thing we were quite confident in our ability to win due to the astounding victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863. We all felt extremely good in the direction this was heading, as General Lee only intended to collect supplies from Pennsylvania farmland. He also believed that we needed to leave poor Virginia alone, as the majority of the fighting had occurred there already. Us Confederates only wanted to threaten those Yankees, stop everybody wanting to fight, but most importantly, win a battle on Yankee soil. That would teach them to respect our Southern pride and traditions. I, personally, don’t necessarily want to be fighting all these other good men, but my Southern culture is being threatened. Surely you understand that Aunt Caroline. No one wants their lifestyle to be taken away from them. Anyway Aunt Caroline, let me tell you all about the fighting. We started off Northwest of the city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1st. Us confederates were fighting with 30,000 men and we had the Yankees outnumbered by 10,000. We were able to defeat them the first day although we weren’t so lucky for the rest. On the 2nd day of fighting, the Union army brought 90,000 men to fight our 70,000 confederates. The fighting seemed to stay back and forth all of the 2nd day but I believe that the Union army still had the upper hand on us at the end of the day. On the 3rd day of fighting we were atop Culp’s Hill ready to fight those Yankees! General Lee came up with the plan to charge the center of the Union line on Cemetary Ridge with 12,000 Confederate men. This attempt was destroyed by Union rifle and artillery fire, and we took great losses to our Confederate army. Lee led our army on a torturous retreat back to…
To southern men, honor was everything. I dictated their standing in society, whether or not they could own slaves; it basically was a secret caste system. A man held in the highest honor experienced a good life from a social stance in the south. The honor system used in the south was related to the language used by southern gentlemen.# Honor and Slavery by Kenneth S. Greenburg attempts to explain the vernacular and customs used by men in the antebellum south. It would be hard for a person in today's society to understand the way honor was shown; it would have even been a challenge for men living in the Northern United States to understand at that time.# As Greenburg states, "Since the language of honor was the dominant language of the men who ruled the slave South, we will never understand masters, the nature of slavery, or the Civil war without first understanding that language."# To be a powerful man in the south, society also had to consider you to be an honorable man. Honor and power in the South were parallel to each other; a man with a high honor ranking was usually a prominent member of society.#…
President Abraham Lincoln gave the speech, “the Gettysburg Address”, on November 19, 1863 at the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania3. There were two main purposes for him writing this speech: to consecrate the cemetery at Gettysburg and start to rebuild a torn country4. Although President Lincoln’s speech was very short, sweet, and straight to the point, it was full of vital information that would begin to reshape the American society. Lincoln starts his speech in a very unique by using the term “Four score and seven years ago, our founding fathers brought forth this continent…” 5.…
On November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave a reverent and humbling speech for the soldiers who had given their lives at the battle of Gettysburg for the reform and advancement of the country. He states that the brave men who here gave their last full measure of devotion” should be highly esteemed for the sacrifice they made. Lincoln establishes his ideas through the usage of rhetorical devices such as, an appeal to ethos, parallelism, and juxtaposition.…
A civil war like in Sierra Leone, trust and innocence are the first casualties. As Ishmael travels with his companions from village to village, people often run or keep an eye on them with a sense of fear. Children, especially boys, are no longer innocent, they have become killers. This is especially sad in a culture that honours hospitality and extended families. Trust is destroyed, “This is one of the consequences of the civil war. People stop trusting each other, and every stranger becomes an enemy.” (pg 37). In certain villages Ishmael is able to win people over with his impressions and foster a little trust. This, however, is short lived. In the context of this book trust and survival do not coexist. There may be glimpses of it, but they…
Clement Vallandigham believed the American Civil War was unjust and as a result he was “tried by court-martial, convicted, and sentenced to a term in a military prison during the continuance of the war” (234). Vallandigham’s loyalty was not to President Lincoln but to the principles that this country was supposed to stand for. The Declaration of Independence says the government is established by the people in order to protect the rights of the people, foremost among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the government become destructive towards those rights it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government. Blind obedience to government is a sign of a totalitarian state. Disobedience to government as practiced by Vallandigham, is a democratic act when that government is not fulfilling its duty to protect its obligations.…
Fox and Thomas Leonardo Livermore in 1889 stating that approximately 620,000 died in combat, accident, starvation, and disease. Many places today have memorials to remember and honor those who lost their lives and were involved with the different wars, for example the Vietnam War, World War I and II. We have monuments up in remembrance of those who lost their lives in 9/11, we are not supporting the terrorist that attacked the twin towers, but the people involved, so why are we not allowed to have the confederate monuments to honor of all those people who gave their lives even the southerners who were fighting for something they believed in was right. Many of the Civil War soldiers were buried where ever they laid or were buried in shallow graves because there was so many of them. Not only are the monument about the history, but also a memorial for the soldiers who gave their…
Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have 'guardians at the gate.'” We must never forget the lives that were taken while protecting our country. Having the privilege to lay the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown would touch me on a personal level. I have a great-great uncle who served in Vietnam. I remember hearing stories of how his mother and sister were worried sick that he wouldn’t make it home. Thankfully, he arrived home safely. On the other hand, somewhere there was a mother who will never know what happened to her son. A mother who never got to lay her little boy to rest. A wife that never got to grow old with her husband. Maybe even a little girl who was never able to have her daddy walk her down the aisle. Although the identities of these men are unknown, they all have a different story. I could never imagine what it would be like to never truly know what happened to your father, son, or brother. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about those families who faced that type of situation. If I were able to lay the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it would become my greatest responsibility. I would forever remember the day that I was able to honor those who fought for our…
Perhaps one of the strongest elements of slavery is honor. Honor has had a wide range of impact in history, whether it was shaping major dynasties and hierarchies, deciding an individuals’ role in society, or family ties and marriages. This sense of worth, high esteem, or virtue was also manipulated by slave masters in order to control their slaves. “The slave could have no honor because of the origin of his status, the indignity and all-pervasiveness of his indebtedness, his absence of any independent social existence, but most of all because he was without power except through another” (p 6). This element is not just a physical force, such as coercive power, which one can heal and even escape, but also a social-psychological issue. A slave had no name or public worth. Any worth was lived out and given through the master. The relationship between the slave and master can be complex but there was always “the strong sense of honor the experience of mastership generated, and conversely, the dishonoring of the slave condition” (p 6). Although Patterson made a clear connection between the slave and master with honor, his concept still contains gaps as certain slaves managed to preserve their honor using the power of voice.…
We shall recognize the freedom and peace, the men and women fought to sustain and uphold. We shall wear poppies, lay a wreath at cenotaphs, attend a Remembrance Day ceremony, and educate ourselves about the war. The…
In Brian Michael Bendis’s final panel in the comic “Civil War: The Confession”, Tony Stark, who is wearing his Iron Man suit, sits next to the dead body of Captain America as he explains to him why he believed the civil war between superheroes had to happen and why he chose to fight. The only text provided in this panel comes from Tony Stark saying “It wasn’t worth it”, referring to the war between the superheroes and losing his best friend, Captain America in the aftermath of the battle. Although the image has one sentence in it, it conveys a very deep and serious message to the readers of the comic that goes beyond the text.…