...Michael Wilson History 120 May 2 2016 Important Personages of the American Civil War. Abstract A defining time in American history was the Civil war of 1861-1865. It is said that while the Revolution founded the United states,the American Civil war shaped the United states into the kind of country it would come to be. The war would come to decide whether the United states would break up to become sovereign states or continue to stand as one nation. Also it would be key in determining if the United states would eventually abolish slavery or continue to dominate the world in slavery. These two issues would come to be widely recognized as the reasons for the war. This paper focuses mainly on some major personalities that played important roles during the war. It highlights their achievments and setbacks and Osuala 2 also takes a look at how they were instrumental to different causes and in general, their influences on the war at large. Stay tuned. Introduction There were so many people who took part in the American Civil war of 1861-1865 which was between the Confederacy and the Union. By the end of the war,over 730,000 soldiers and sailors died in the conflict (Shi and Tindall 506). Some of the most...
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...Prof. Timothy Orr 3 March 2015 Attack and Die Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage This was a intriguing book, the authors offer a different version of the severe loss of life suffered by the Confederacy States of American during the Civil War. The authors pull social and cultural elements together with military history to create their central thesis: the Southern military leadership failed to recognize new tactics and technological advances and willingly threw away men’s lives due to their Celtic heritage. If the South had adopted a more defensive posture, it very well could have weathered the storm of assaults by the Union, but the leadership of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee prevented this because they desired to wage an aggressive war. The book is broken down into different sections, the book begins by comparing Union and Southern losses in battles which major assaults took place and field works. The numbers are very telling, as Southern forces time and again take heavy losses by waging an aggressive war. Union commanders more easily recognized the change in warfare due to technology and more readily adapted; which leads into the part of the book, which discusses at length the reasons for the belief in aggressive tactics. The Mexican war had a profound effect on the thinking of the soldiers who fought in it, and these lessons were remembered and reinforced in the period leading up to the Civil War. The final chapters of the book discuss the cultural...
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...First, Jefferson Davis tries to create an ideal society. This society would be one in which members would strive to make the society work for all of its participants. Davis leaves his job as a successful lawyer to implement this dream. He buys a plantation and slaves. Among his slaves he tries to construct this new society. The Civil War put an end to Davis’ pursuit of this dream. But all was not lost for it. Benjamin Montgomery, one of Davis’ former slaves, brought Davis’ land and tried to continue the dream himself. After a period of prosperity, the society again began to decline. His son Isaiah Montgomery moved himself and a number of Davis’ former slaves to a small settlement in the Mississippi Delta. The area later was named Mound Bayou and served to be the ideal society for post-war blacks. The colony prospered and later declined. The theme of the book was the ultimate achievement of the dream. No matter who was trying to execute it or where they were trying to achieve it, the dream was the most important element of the book. The author’s main points were the start of the dream, Davis’s persistent pursuit of the dream, and Montgomerys later taking the dream to another level. 2. Joseph Davis’ dream was an ideal society. This society would be an efficient, prosperous slave plantation. It would follow some of the less-radical guidelines of British social reformer Robert Owens. Davis had read Owen’s book A New View of Society and it helped influence his ideas...
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...Writing Assignment on: Life in the South Many colonists came to America because of a desire to prosper and to start a new life. The majority of the settlers were males under the age of twenty. They didn’t realize how harsh it was going to be in the South. I am sure they did not expect to die like so many of them did. The life that they hoped for was not the life that they received. The Southern colonies were an ideal place for agriculture. The long, warm, and moist climate was perfect for growing cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, rice, and indigo. Its rivers were useful for transportation. The hot weather made life in the south harsh and a death expectancy that was shorter than New England’s. There were four classes of settlers; they were the plantation owners, the middle class farmers, the indentured servants, and the slaves. Almost half of the settlers were indentured servants or slaves. How life was in the Southern colonies depended upon which class of people you came from. In a plantation, the wealthy planters’ children were educated at home by teachers that their parents hired; they had easy lives. They learned reading, writing, dancing, and music. Boys learned to ride horses and hunt, and spent lots of time outdoors. The older boys were taught how to run the plantation. The indentured servants were people who came to the colonies on contract. Their hopes were to come to America for a better opportunity of a good life. They would have their fare across the Atlantic...
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...• Robert Livingston • War of 1812- Military conflict between US and Britain following revolution about unresolved issues: trade restrictions, etc. • Tecumseh- Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy; opposed US in war of 1812. • John Quincy Adams- sixth president; whig. • Empire of Liberty- theme developed first by Thomas Jefferson to identify America's world responsibility to spread freedom across the globe. Jefferson saw America's mission in terms of setting an example, expansion into the west, and by intervention abroad. • Transportation Revolution- early 1800s, development of steamboats, canals, and railroads. Faster transport of people, products, and knowledge. • National Road- First major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. Connection between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and a gateway to the West for thousands of settlers. • Communication Revolution- Samuel Morse invented telegraph. • The Market Revolution- improvements in how goods were processed and fabricated as well as by a transformation of how labor was organized to process trade goods for consumption. • Porkopolis- Cincinnati was the country's chief hog packing center, and herds of pigs traveled the streets. • Labor theory of value- The value of a commodity is only related to the labor needed to produce or obtain that commodity and not to other factors of production • Second Party System- 2 party system • Democrats-...
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...McClellan’s Influence and Role During the Civil War Chad Hoskins 4446301 MILH 542 Professor Steven Sledge American Public University March 15, 2015 1 Many men during the Civil War made huge contributions that effected their respective sides cause. Some for the worse and some for the better. Battles can be broke down, strategic moves dissected, and even personnel moves debated. But individual men are examined on how they influenced armies, battles, and even their leaders. With that mentioned, George B. McClellan, a great military mind and strategist, perhaps is looked as one of the great leaders during the Civil War who could have made better decisions, change certain outcomes, and maybe even retained the confidence of President Lincoln. George B. McClellan came from a very prominent family who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (1) George was born December 3, 1826 to Dr. George McClellan who had founded Jefferson Medical College. George’s mother was Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz Brinton McClellan who came from a leading family in the Philadelphia area. George was the third of five children and had a passion for law. At the young age of 13 he attended the University of Pennsylvania. After just two years of studying law, McClellan changed his focus to military service. Now young George B. McClellan was only 15 at the time when he entered the United States Military Academy in 1842. It took a letter from his father to President John Tyler...
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...In the time between 1850 and 1861, slavery became a major conflict within the American government and its citizens. In determining whether the Constitution is a source of disunion in the United States, it is important to look at different angles of interpretation. Morally, interpretations of the Constitution influence the rights and wrongs of slavery and the laws along with it. Socially, principles and provisions of the Constitution allow for the states to grasp rights, but also allow others to limit them. Politically, viewpoints from political figures on the Constitution bring forward ideas and opinions on laws regarding states’ rights and disunion. By the 1850s, the Constitution became a factor in the failure of the Union due to the opposing...
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...Sarah encouraged Lincoln to read, and he loved to read books. He would travel miles just to borrow a book to read. Lincoln was a unique boy, he could chop more wood and lay more railroad tracks than most people. He could also outwrestle the local boys. One thing he didn’t like was hunting because he didn’t like killing animals. Lincoln was also brutally mistreated by his father who would treat him like a slave. Lincoln opposed laziness and did most of the chores that needed to be done in the house. Lincoln was quick to obtain knowledge. He went to school for less than 18 months because of the distance from his house to the school and how poor Lincoln’s family was. He also was known to be a prankster, but was most recognized for his...
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...which are race orientated. The Lost Cause is a very complex ideology that still plagues American history to this day. It threw a kind of fog over the events of the American Civil War. Even though there are a lot of facts that show and explain what happened in the Civil War, it is still surrounded by myths and legends. A lot of these myths and legends were created by the South in an attempt to salvage what ever pride and dignity they had left. Honor, a huge player in the Lost Cause...
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...unbelievable and lack sufficient evidence to back them up, thus they become known as conspiracies. One of these conspiracies is the idea of Slave Power. The Slave Power Conspiracy, to most American’s this conspiracy is probably unknown, but it relates to an idea which is a topic of debate among scholars and historians. The Slave Power Conspiracy is an idea that came to be in the 1840’s and lasted till the end of the Civil War. As was stated this idea is a conspiracy as there is no direct evidence to give it a strong foundation or validity in our time. The term “Slave Power” coined in 1864 in a book written by John Smith Dye entitled “History Of The Plots And Crimes Of The Great Conspiracy To Overthrow Liberty In America.” The term started off simply as the Slave Power (conspiracy was added in the modern era). In the book Dye alleges that since the time of Independence, the aristocrats of the South and politicians from the South have had an agenda to extend slavery to the Western United States and Latin America and thus increase their power, wealth, and influence in the United States.[1] There are certain events that happened in Dye’s time that can show this idea was real. They can also prove the legitimate and real threat Slave Power posed, to Latin America. By examining all angles of this argument both real and outrageous will ultimately prove why the Slave Power Conspiracy should remain as Dye put it simply the Slave Power. Slavery in The United States The focus may be...
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...Flag has been the center of a major controversy that has spanned the entire United States. Many writers, when speaking on the subject of the Confederate Flag, now use words like “racism,” “controversy,” and “a symbol of hate.” Other writers, like John M. Coski, use words like “cultural property” and “a very practical banner.” The Confederate Flag that we know today was actually not the official flag of the Confederacy. Instead, the “Stars and Bars,” as it was nicknamed during the Civil War era, was actually the battle flag. The design was adopted by the Confederate Congress in March 1861 because of its resemblance to the American Flag. So how did this Civil War era banner spark so much controversy within the American...
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...The Union War “Without an appreciation of why loyal citizens believed a Union that guaranteed democratic self-government was worth great sacrifice, no accurate understanding of the Civil War era was possible” (Gallagher). I agree with this statement by Gallagher because if it wasn’t for the decisions and executions of the Union I am not sure if I would be living in a democratic, free society today. In The Union War, Gallagher “offers a companion volume that extends his manifesto against hindsight, what Gallagher calls the ‘Appomattox syndrome,’ to histories of the Union” (Gallagher, 79). According to Gallagher, researchers who work backward from emancipation and Reconstruction have expanded northern devotion to race, slavery, and abolition while complicating loyal Americans’ major war aim, the Union. The above quote stated by Gary Gallagher is one of the main causes as to why the North won the Civil War because with the joining of citizens who wanted to fight for their democratic government, it gave the Union more soldiers that wanted to fight than the Confederates. They won the Civil War simply because they had more people. The North won the Civil War they were on the right side of human ethical issues. They had their best interest in helping the morals of humans and this alone helps citizens be able to trust the Union’s tendencies and this can also make a citizen loyal. The North clearly had more men to fight for them and there were more people that wanted to end slavery,...
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...The Leadership of Abraham Lincoln Phillip Bullington High Performance Leadership Term Paper 2/12/15 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Leader 4 Power & Influence 4 Ethics & Values 6 Attributes 6 Behavior 8 Followers 9 Motivation 9 Satisfaction & Performance 9 Groups 10 The Rocket Model 10 Situation 11 Situational Levels 11 Emancipation Proclamation 12 Death 13 Conclusion 13 References 14 Introduction Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. Abraham was born on February 12, 1809 to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. He grew up in both Kentucky and Indiana as the son of a farmer who preferred him to work on the farm rather than read books. Lincoln had an intellectual ambition however and was in constant pursuit of knowledge through his readings. Abraham set out for Illinois in 1831 and studied to become a lawyer which he eventually did in 1836 after passing the bar examination. He was then elected to the Illinois State Legislature in 1836, 1838, and 1840. After his retirement from legislature in 1841, Lincoln went on to marry Mary Todd Lincoln in 1842. He then began devoting the majority of his time to law practice until 1847 when he was elected and served in Congress (McPherson, 2000). Lincoln would continue to move in and out of politics for the next 14 years as was continually defeated in bids and elections for office. It wasn’t until 1861, after losing...
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...Bibliographic Essay on African American History Introduction In the essay “On the Evolution of Scholarship in Afro- American History” the eminent historian John Hope Franklin declared “Every generation has the opportunity to write its own history, and indeed it is obliged to do so.”1 The social and political revolutions of 1960s have made fulfilling such a responsibility less daunting than ever. Invaluable references, including Darlene Clark Hine, ed. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); Evelyn Brooks Higgingbotham, ed., Harvard Guide to African American History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001); Arvarh E. Strickland and Robert E. Weems, Jr., eds., The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001); and Randall M. Miller and John David Smith, eds., Dictionary of Afro- American Slavery (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988), provide informative narratives along with expansive bibliographies. General texts covering major historical events with attention to chronology include John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000), considered a classic; along with Joe William Trotter, Jr., The African American 1  Experience (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001); and, Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine, and Stanley Harrold, The...
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...‘The American Civil War was an irrepressible conflict.’ Do you agree? The American Civil war is one of the most studied topics in American history. Yet still, a definitive answer cannot be found as to why the war broke out. Many of the interpretations can be grouped into two major schools of thought: the irrepressible conflict or the Blundering Generation. It was certainly true that the North and South were becoming increasingly different during this period. Slavery being the most fundamental of these, however there was also variances in the economies and culture. This would support the idea that the war was inevitable as the differences were too great. However, it can be argued that radically different societies can co-exist without going to war. Instead, a series of mistakes and misjudgements were made by blundering politicians. There are numerous examples of this; the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott and the Fugitive Slave Act to name just a few. In my view, the American Civil War was an irrepressible conflict since compromise on the slavery issue was impossible. Blundering politicians acted as catalysts to ignite the flames of war, however they did not create the differences which acted as the foundation for the irrepressible conflict. The issue of slavery is often cited as the most significant cause of the war. By 1860 the issue of slavery had become too great and compromise was impossible. As Frederick Douglass stated, ‘the more the issue is settled, the more it needs settling...
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