Ms. Richmond
English 231
The Civil War
or The War Between the States
April 1861 – April 1865
ü A fight over….
o ….slavery as a way of life.
o ….industrialization vs. agriculture.
o …north vs. south.
o …. decisions from the federal government or states’ rights.
Civil War Literature
ü firsthand accounts – from soldiers and slaves
§ includes letters, diaries, and journals from soldiers and their families
§ accounts of slaves’ experiences before and after emancipation
§ fiction from former soldiers and abolitionists (written before or after the war)
ü songs
§ laments for lost, missed, or missing soldiers
§ spirituals: folk songs that originated among enslaved and oppressed African Americans
o anti-slavery
o an outlet for emotions that could not be spoken
o religious in content – many references to Moses, who set the Israelite slaves free; included prayers for deliverance
ü political documents
§ nonfiction
§ speeches and journals from political figures
§ most famous is the Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln
Mood of the Civil War Era
§ sorrow, despair, hope – reflected the difficulties of war and the hoped-for outcomes, both with the war and slavery
ü Note that when times are tough, most literature produced tends to be nonfiction.
Some major battles of the war:
Fort Sumter
§ First shot of the war
Vicksburg
Lexington
Bull Run
Antietam
§ bloodiest one day of battle in the war
– more than 20,000 soldiers killed
§ west of Frederick, Maryland
§ http://www.nps.gov/anti/
Gettysburg
§ possibly the most important battle of the war
§ most casualties in the war – about 50,000
§ http://www.nps.gov/gett/
Chattanooga
Chancellorsville
Manassas (2nd Bull Run)
Fredericksburg
Chickamauga
Atlanta
Charleston Harbor
Leaders:
President Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, leader of the Union troops
Gen. Robert E. Lee, leader of the Confederate troops