Difference between revisions of "471A3--Week 3 Questions/Comments--Thursday"
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Robert E. Lee spoke urged the nation to "not keep open the sores of war" (149). Was this unique among southerners? - Erin B. | Robert E. Lee spoke urged the nation to "not keep open the sores of war" (149). Was this unique among southerners? - Erin B. | ||
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| + | Within the first 20 years after the Civil War ended, Memorial Days became days of reconciliation for many Americans but days of great distress for those who felt the South should not have been forgiven. How does this struggle represent the different memories people had about why the war was fought in the first place? - Angie | ||
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| + | Blight talks about how newspapers began publishing the war stories of individual soldiers after the War. He also says that much of the space was given to Southerners as opposed to Northerners. Why were people more interested in reading the stories of the South? - Angie | ||
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| + | I found that Sarah Rice Pryor's memorial day speeches to be very shocking since she did not hesitate discussing the issue of race, when the majority of memorial day orators would refrain from doing so. He believed that the war had nothing to do with slavery, and overall that slavery it was good as it lasted, good once it was gone; no southern fought in its defense, and no northern died to end it. I disagree with Pryor that the North did fight to end slavery and was also surprised by his statements since he was from the North.- Nick | ||
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| + | It is important to remember the atrocities that soldiers on both sides endured during the war. Some endured long term stays in prison, others lost limbs in the war, and others had acquired mental problems that would plague them throughout their lives. These were some of the memories that would form Civil War veterans' memories concerning the war.-Nick | ||
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| + | On page 89, Blight says, "On these landscapes of Civil War Memory, devotion to the Lost Cause had already gained a special place in the American imagination- the alleged nobility of losers in a desperate struggle carried an enduring fascination in an age increasingly characterized by cynical politics, amoral machines, and the impersonal leviathan of industrialization." Already, African Americans were being left out of the conversation, replaced by the soldiers themselves. Does anyone else see this quote as indicative of Blight's overall thesis?- DRadtke | ||
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| + | On page 149, Blight reveals that Lee seemed to think it wiser to speed the process of reconciliation than to dwell on the cost of war. Today, Lee enjoys a "god-like status." I've heard him described as the "greatest general in history." So how did he depart from the Southern rhetoric of the postwar era and still be remembered as favorably as he is?- DRadtke | ||
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| + | Why is Memorial Day often said to be founded as a Confederate holiday. Is this another fight over Civil War memory? Why was Jubal Early so influential among ex confederate generals when his military career was checkered? Was it simply because he had the loudest voice? Logan T | ||
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| + | Why was there no backlash to the idea of war after the Civil War like there was after Vietnam? The Civil War saw more death and had a more direct effect on the people. It like Vietnam had a new media to be viewed in the form of the photograph. Was it because there was a strong since of right on both sides? Why did veterans focus on defending there roles in the war. Was it just a different culture? Logan T | ||
