Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Understanding The Civil War More Clearly

Those are two more outstanding volumes.

HBB,

I don't disagree with your methodology if your intent is to raise awareness or knowledge among academics.

I think to help the general public understand what they think and feel about the Civil War, the most important 50 years is the last 50 years, and how the symbols of the civil War have been used to influence and manipulate peoples emotions for political or financial gain.

Whether Senator X caned Senator Y and when, and whatfor, probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans to a person of 30, 40 or 50 years old today.

It's what Daddy told them, or GrandPappy told them, and understanding where and why GrandPappy heard it, and repeated it is most important.

YMMV,

Sycamore

I have a substantial knowledge of WWII, a medium knowledge of Vietnam, and have only read a few books (Killer Angels stands out) on the War Against the States. While I've seen several of the battlefields, I wouldn't add much.

I want to take time and learn about it as it seems to be the focal point of the talking head media/government right now.

If you are going to open the eyes of these people they will have to know what really happened and just how complex it was.

If they go back and do their own research and see for themselves and can think at all they will be able to see beyond all that has happened in the last 50 years.

If they can't get to that understanding themselves they will never listen to a fat, old Historian like me.

The study and synthesis of History can be a tough job and its not tied to videos and cell phones which makes it even tougher for the current generation. That is why the knotheads in the public schools are either rewriting or just avoiding History altogether and the far Left is making so much hay.

Killer Angels is a good book. Ask questions and add what you can. Every little bit helps a thread like this.

hillbillybear;
Good evening to you sir and thanks so much for the very interesting thread.

Hopefully it's OK for me as a northern neighbor to express an interest in another country's history - but then as a historian you likely know that somewhere around 40000 Canucks or folks from what was soon to be Canada went south to fight for both sides.

There were also something like 12000 from the states who crossed north to avoid the draft so I read.

Lastly, there's strong evidence that the War Between the States was a major catalyst to the formation of Canada itself so it's always been of interest to me personally.

On another personal note my wife's great grandfather fought in it and is buried in Minnesota.

Anyway sir, thanks for the reading list and methodology involved I appreciate you taking the time. All the best to you and yours this summer.

Dwayne

The problem America has today is that our entire society is being intentionally demonized and corrupted. The conditions in America prior to the civil war makes for an easy target and those who are contaminating our country with their extreme leftist ideology are using that history to expedite their agenda.

This is *ONLY* possible because the Civil War destroyed the individual sovereignty of the states and put us under the thumb of a central power.

A book I enjoyed was the account written by Sir Arthur J L Fremantle and how he got from Mexico to the field at Gettysburg. Then Back to Great Britain.

Glad you joined us. That is great information on the Canadian side, Hope all is well in the north Country.

That is an outstanding book.

The Marxists are doing their best to hang us and we are helping to knot the rope.

His serendipitous meeting with an aged Sam Houston on the coach made for a good story!

Well,....once a central power took hold of America, it was just a matter of time.

You know what they say about absolute power.

Here is the Fremantle volume. Get it and read it if you can:

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Months-...r=8-1&keywords=col.+arthur+fremantle

Who's gonna start the revolving book club?

Lots of great reads here.

Brother, you are not kidding! They, never, ever disengage, either.

Another book about the Civil War I've enjoyed is "Mary Chesnut's Civil War," edited by C. Vann Woodward, Yale University Press, © 1981. Mary Chestnut is very well educated and highly articulate. This is complied from the many years daily diary of Mary Chestnut, a South Carolinian lady from an old, prestigious southern family, a plantation owner and slave owner.

It's a day-to-day observation by Chestnut, whose husband, James Chestnut, was a well known, influential politician, very high up in the Confederate Administration. Mary and James knew many of the very heavy hitters, including high level generals and colonels, southern senators, congressmen, governors, etc. She noted from her perspective the beginning of the War, its horrendous course, and its tragic ending.

It's a very interesting read of the era, from the perspective of one who was there.

L.W.

I will take your suggested reading material and hope to read it before I get cslled.
I am now reading a most interesting book by Orlando Figes, "A Peoples Tragedy - The Russian Revolution 1891 - 1924.
I will be looking for parallels to our Civil War which predates their conflagration and our current situation USA 2015. Looking back from FDR to Obozo.

In a succinct & elegantly simple way, this is about as close as a simple explanation of the Civil War as I've ever seen.......especially the comment about Lincoln's ego, what a POS he was.

MM

thx 4 that

So if the South was all about reduction of federal power and increase of state's rights, how does that reconcile with the South using federal power for decades to push the federal Fugitive Slave Act onto the North, threatening anybody who even fed a SUSPECTED runaway with a year in jail and $1000 fine? Using the federal gov't to refuse to allow free blacks in the North to even be allowed to testify in court about whether they were runaway or free?

Interesting to me is that the largest increase in the use of jury nullification was Northerners refusing to convict people violating the immoral and unConstitutional Fugitive Slave Act.