A Band of Brothers, By James M. McPherson
The Civil War, which started in April 1861, was the war in which changed American History eternally. It consisted of extremely ordinary, inexperienced men fighting a battle that was much bigger than them, and existed long before their time. While most of the men fighting in the war were mere volunteers, with no battle experience, they were expecting to simply fight, win, and return home with no impediments. This was clearly not the case. The article, A Band of Brothers, distinctly describes the men's pure intention for not only joining the Confederate, and Union army, but remaining in it, when it became clear it was not going to be an effortless, minute battle. The purpose of the article is to
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"Personal honor is the one thing valued more than life itself by the majority of men", quoted by S.L.A Marshall. The first main point explains three things. Maintaining personal honor, community honor, and last but not least, maintaining honor within your family. The article gives many examples of how the men felt they needed to withhold a certain amount of reputation for themselves, as a man. With the majority of men in the United States offering up their services to fight in the War, there was a level of expectation placed on them. This was the main reason for them to maintain their pride in manhood. Many men began to test their manhood when they fought their first battle, but this motivated them to challenge themselves, and their nobility. The second thing the men desired to preserve honor in was their community honor. The soldiers pride cost many their lives because they would rather stay, then be shamed and looked down on by the community. Returning home meant one thing. Cowardice. Many of men fighting had been from the same town or community and had known each other forever. This fact leads to a certain pressure by other soldiers against weakness. The last honor the soldiers aspired to uphold was the honor of your family name. A quote in the article from a Private in the 20th Georgia …show more content…
McPherson is an exceptionally well-written article which explains in great profundity the motives for men joining the Army and keeping up a high level of Honor. The article can be directly correlated to the understanding of the Civil War, and the background information that the readers weren't aware of in the war, such as the Soldiers motives to fight. The first main strong point present in the article is that the article articulates the main points of the essay very well, and uses countless quotes from Generals that were not in the AP United States History Textbook, which give a much more individual explanation to the personal reasons the men were fighting in the first place. This helped make the information not only easy to understand but much more interesting than just stating facts about the war. The secondary main strength in the article is the events mentioned that aren't major battles, so are not introduced into the textbook. They are of personal account to a soldier or general and are ever quoted with a date. This was a great resource in the article that the reader could look back on. The third and final strength at hand in the article is the assessment between the Civil War and World War II, and stating the resemblance in the men's drive for victory. This helped understand the information and added a synthesis to it, to reference. The article contributes to the understanding of the time, by giving a new and
The Civil War. Louis P. Masur’s book, The civil War: a Concise History, Is a book that gives an overview of the civil war from 18 to 1800, Providing multiple causes an consequences that emerged from the war. The book begins by reviewing the origins of the war. Chapter one covers the issues between northern and southern states and the tension over right and slave possession. The tension created a conflict that raised a number of political, social, and military events that then proceeded into a battle to abolish slavery from the colonies.
In this article, the intent was to show us the Civil War from a confederate’s perspective and I think it did a great job at that. Showing that the army officers interacted during the war even unearthing the Native American skeletons and gathering them up to see what their ancestors looked like. This article did not concentrate much on the war which I think was a good thing since a lot of people today usually view the confederates as bad people since they were fighting to keep slavery. There is one flaw that I found in this article.
Historians have tried to figure out why soldiers enlisted in the Civil War. Soldiers from both the North and South enlisted in the Civil War because of feelings of nationalism and to gain experience and maintain their society’s beliefs in bravery and duty. On both sides, soldiers continuously enlisted in the war because of their personal and their society’s beliefs. Henry Fleming, a young sold the Union, struggles to find his courage and encounters the truth about what war is really like.
McPherson discusses how he found countless of confederate soldier’s letters filled with phrases like “the holy cause of southern freedom, duty to one’s country and death before Yankee
The Civil War was a vital event that occurred in America’s historical consciousness and in order to understand the medical aspect of the war, first defining exactly what the war was about is fundamental. According to Dixon, the Civil War transpired in 1861-1865 and it was essentially about the “uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states.” Significant battles occurred in Chickamauga, Shiloh in Tennessee, Fredericksburg in Virginia, and Antietam in Maryland, Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and Atlanta in Georgia.
It gave me the knowledge that I was looking for about the Third Texas Cavalry and answered any questions that I might have had before reading this article. It gave me everything I needed to know so I was not left with needing to know more because I felt as if I got all the necessary information. I don’t believe anything else could’ve been said to help improve the article. I believe that Douglas Hale said everything that needed to be said about the Third Texas Cavalry while also praising the men for their bravery. I highly recommend reading this article to anyone who is interested in America’s history or to anyone who are especially interested in the Civil War.
After the Civil War erupted in 1861, Douglass proposed the formation of a Black Army. He strongly believed that black men needed to be involved in the fight that would grant them freedom from slavery. Douglass served as a recruiter in 1863, speaking about the importance of the contribution of the black men in the Civil War: “he who would be freed themselves must strike the blow.” He gave the example by recruiting his own two sons. Because of his involvement 200 000 black soldiers an sailors participated in the war.
COMPANY AYTCH BOOK REVIEW In today’s society our history books are often written by the victors of our battles and wars. We have a tendency to sugar coat what really happened and to, in a way, glorify war. It is very uncommon to come across a book that details what life was like on the losing end, even more so, one that was written twenty years after a war took place. Company Aytch: Or A Side Show of the Big Show was written by a man by the name of Samuel Rush Watkins.
In a war of this kind, the effectiveness of political leadership, the ability to mobilize economic resources, and a society’s willingness to keep up the fight despite setbacks are as crucial to the outcome as success or failure on individual battlefields” (Foner 521). This summary of the war shows that conflict was the only factor in the Civil War. the north and south would not agree on anything, and it created a major upset. Brothers would fight against brothers, houses would be divided, and America was at a sense of loss. If it wasn’t for the brave efforts of Abraham Lincoln and the Union, the
“There is a convoy of government soldiers coming our way.” Lizard snapped his cellphone shut and rammed it in his pocket. The phone was a badge of authority, proof that he was in command. “Who will volunteer to fight?” Once again, hands shot up.
The draft pulled them into it. They did not want to dishonor their fathers, their country and society who told them fighting is honorable. In “The Things They Carried,” it was this ‘dishonor’ that had lead them to enter the war, it was “nothing
Lasting from 1861 to 1865, the Civil War acquired the highest death toll out of any United States war, resulting in more than 620,000 deaths, along with millions of others severely wounded. In truth, the amount of deaths in the Civil War adds up to more than any other war until the Vietnam War, directly impacting over ten percent of the population and influencing almost every civilian through family or friend’s deaths. Aside from the strife and bloodshed endured in war, the Civil War also promoted advances in the American culture and yielded legendary leaders that are still commemorated for their achievements today (Stauffer 1). Of the many leaders that gained their fame from the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant is regarded as one of the most iconic
In chapter one of What They Fought For, I learned about the letters and diaries of the Confederate soldiers. The themes of the letters were home-sickness, lack of peace, and the defense of home against their invading enemy. The thought of soldiers fighting for their homes and being threatened by invaders, made them stronger when facing adversity. Many men expressed that they would rather die fighting for a cause, than dying without trying and this commitment showed patriotism. Throughout the letters, soldiers claimed their reason for fighting, was for the principles of Constitutional liberty and self-government.
The living legacy of the United States Civil War is a complicated time in American history one finds difficult to describe. The ramification of the war prior, during and after still haunt the current citizens who call The States their home. Tony Horwitz’s book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War looks at the wide gap of discontent that still looms in the late 1990s. For some southerners, the Confederacy still lives on through reenactments, stories and beliefs. For others in the South, reminders the land was dedicated to the Confederacy spark hatred and spite.
Moving onto the critical analysis portion, Stephen E. Ambrose’s work will be explored in regards to the quality of the writing and its actual value it holds. First, Ambrose’s thesis/purpose of writing Band of Brothers was to relay the story of Easy Company, it must be noted that (Ambrose, P. 312) Ambrose says “We do net pretend that this is the full history of the company, which is impossible due to the men killed in war, but rather this is as close to the true story of Easy Company as possible”. So, in retrospect this book was the creation from various in person and phone interviews, letter correspondence, wartime letters and diaries that was given to Ambrose by the men of Easy Company. Some of Ambrose’s previous work like Pegasus Bridge was