A People's History of the Civil War: Review
Review Essay of A People’s History of the Civil War
In this book, the professor conveys major points throughout the Civil War that have been given scant attention, which America herself had previously tried to keep hidden. Professors name exposes the class warfare between rich planters and common folk or “plain folk”, and the economic injustice the planters forced upon the starving men and women on the home front and war front (14). Women fought for their families’ survival, equal rights, and became spies in both armies. Volunteers and conscripted men demanded respect, but the affluent brass ignored any cries and used them for their own economic interest. The professor emphasizes how the actions of deserters and draft evaders had previously been condemned by other Civil War documents and gives justice for their desertion. The spirit and resentment the soldiers and civilians had towards the elites are shown throughout the book as what they perceived as a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight” (75). The professor detailed how African Americans fought for their freedom long before Lincoln “emancipated” them and how Lincoln continually showed a vague attitude towards them, and brought light to the fact of the military reasoning for the Emancipation Proclamation. Professor elucidates how Native Americans were continually disposed, massacred, and ripped from their land with no adequate repayment. This book broadens history’s contracted lens by sharing fascinating firsthand accounts of the war and the overall consensus most Americans felt. The professors book helped me to understand the truths of the Civil War and introduced a critical view of the war never presented to me before now. Previously, I had been taught and held as truth that the Civil War was fought for slavery, economic purposes, and won by the industry in the North overpowering the agriculture in the South. History books, documents, and movies never told the actual truth, only the bold glory of
In this book, the professor conveys major points throughout the Civil War that have been given scant attention, which America herself had previously tried to keep hidden. Professors name exposes the class warfare between rich planters and common folk or “plain folk”, and the economic injustice the planters forced upon the starving men and women on the home front and war front (14). Women fought for their families’ survival, equal rights, and became spies in both armies. Volunteers and conscripted men demanded respect, but the affluent brass ignored any cries and used them for their own economic interest. The professor emphasizes how the actions of deserters and draft evaders had previously been condemned by other Civil War documents and gives justice for their desertion. The spirit and resentment the soldiers and civilians had towards the elites are shown throughout the book as what they perceived as a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight” (75). The professor detailed how African Americans fought for their freedom long before Lincoln “emancipated” them and how Lincoln continually showed a vague attitude towards them, and brought light to the fact of the military reasoning for the Emancipation Proclamation. Professor elucidates how Native Americans were continually disposed, massacred, and ripped from their land with no adequate repayment. This book broadens history’s contracted lens by sharing fascinating firsthand accounts of the war and the overall consensus most Americans felt. The professors book helped me to understand the truths of the Civil War and introduced a critical view of the war never presented to me before now. Previously, I had been taught and held as truth that the Civil War was fought for slavery, economic purposes, and won by the industry in the North overpowering the agriculture in the South. History books, documents, and movies never told the actual truth, only the bold glory of