Drew Faust Summary

Drew Gilpin Faust’s, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, is an intensive study that reflects on the impact of the Civil war had on the soldiers and civilians. Faust wanted to show that, as they dealt with and mourned over the overwhelming amount of carnage, the nation and the lives of the American people were already changed forever. Although there are many other publications relating to the Civil war, she is able to successfully reflect upon the morbid topic of death in the Civil war in a new and unique way. This book shows the war in a whole different perspective by focusing less on quantifying and stating the statistics of the civil war deaths. Rather, she examines more closely on how the Civil War deaths transformed the “society, culture and politics,” and the impact it had on the lives of the Americans in the 19th century.

Innately people can be selfish, so in times when not only their own livelihood is in danger, but the lives of thousands is when a spotlight illuminates from the writer’s pen of Shelby Foote. The Civil War was not fought by superheroes, but by soldiers and he makes this clear. Foote shows us that being heroic can only be in instances and gives cases where soldiers were unheroic to paint the entire picture for readers to make their own conclusions. Dramatic irony is drawn from his toolbox to further drive home this point. Shakespearean moments that Foote could not even dream of are included for both the pleasure in telling the story and telling more about the war itself, even more specifically the Seven Days Battles.

David Blight, is a detailed study of the ways that Americans chose to remember the Civil War during the first fifty years following the conflict. Blight argues that throughout this period Americans used the two expression to remember and give meaning to the war with rhetorical effectiveness throughout the excerpt. Blight accomplishes the main theme of competing memories with different ideals of the Civil War seeking to overcome the issue for reunion. A majority of America’s white community chose to obscure the Civil War’s racial meaning behind a front of attitudes that acclaimed both Northern and Southern soldiers. Later Blight uses the themes of ending the war with a push for national reconciliation to demonstrate how the country’s efforts

On June 2 1865 the United States entered into its bloodiest battle it had ever gotten into since the founding of the country. Over 600,000 people died in battle and all over the issue of slavery. When the civil war was over many thought that slavery had ended and that black people would get the freedom that had been wanting. Although the civil war had ended, white southerners kept African Americans as slaves under new laws passed called Black Codes. After the civil war, African Americans wanted more rights and more freedom.

The United States Civil War is possible one of the most meaningful, bloodstained and controversial war fought in American history. Northern Americans against Southern Americans fought against one another for a variety of motives. These motives aroused from a wide range of ideologies that stirred around the states. In James M. McPherson’s What they fought for: 1861-1865, he analyzes the Union and Confederate soldier’s morale and ideological components through the letters they wrote to love ones while at war. While, John WhiteClay Chambers and G. Kurt Piehler depict Civil War soldiers through their letters detailing the agonizing battles of war in Major Problems in American Military History.

A soldier dreaded being on the battlefield more than being in the field hospital, right…? Field hospitals were usually very, very crowded. There were never enough beds for everybody and people that couldn’t get a bed were laid outside of the hospital on the ground. Doctors were always overworked and went to the soldiers who needed the most help first. So, if you had a broken bone, chances are you would be stuck waiting for hours and maybe even days.

From such a outdated method of fighting, on such a large scale, only a large amount of destruction and death could come from the conflicts in which the armies found themselves entangled enough to fight. The style of Civil War battles created an environment that presented an even more hazerdous environment to those soldiers who fought the battle and, combined with poor medical knowledge, the soldiers were exposed to a level of lethality that supports the argument of the Civil War being the most painful and taxing war of American

Life for the Union Soldier was not only brutal on the battlefield, but the camp life for a Union soldier was just as cruel. With the lack of personal hygiene, unsavory and repugnant food, and the shortage of clothing made living, a very difficult thing to do. Growth in the number of people with diseases was also a contributing factor to the massive amounts of death within the camp and as well as the post-battle wounds that often left either a man with one less limb or put in a mental institution. A Union Soldier’s life during the Civil War was cruel and horrific during their stay at the camps.

While fighting in combat, soldiers often developed a fatalist attitude towards their lives allowing them to accept their death as fate; this attitude led to a sense of detachment that was tough to kick even when they returned to safer environments. A quarter of soldiers were diagnosed with neuro-psychiatric

The most common virus was Euthanasia. This sickness caused diarrhea and dehydration which was far from ideal in the cramped areas. (Bachrach 40) They often froze or starved to death. One of the worst parts was the train rides.

I have a very large of dying from the sicknesses getting passed around. I overheard General George Washington say that around 3,989 soldiers have gotten sick by February (Busch 147). And that 2,500 deaths have come from sickness (Busch 147). Frostbite and Smallpox have played a big part here at Valley Forge. Frostbite has gotten many people’s limb taken off.

Their anguish was increased. Faust gave the idea that death can have different meanings. “the means and mechanisms to manage more than half a million dead: their deaths, their bodies, their loss. How they accomplished this task reshaped their individual lives—and deaths—at the same time that it redefined their nation and their culture. The work of death was Civil War America’s most fundamental and demanding undertaking.”

Becoming a Confederate victory, the others are forced to retreat. All the dead bodies are put into mass graves, including Robert Shaw 's. Despite this, by the end of the American Civil War, more than 180,000 African Americans were in uniform, and ready to fight in the war together hand in hand. This movie was a really powerful movie showing that there is no difference among blacks and whites, and that everyone is the same with a heart that functions, and the power to go to war and fight for their

The saying “all’s fair in love and war” certainly rings true with this short story by Ambrose Bierce, a soldier who fought in the Civil War for the Union Army. Following the end of the war, Bierce wrote several fictional stories about the war. His most famous story is “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, which was made into multiple television show episodes, and was radio broadcast on many occasions. This is for good reason, as this story shows the grit and actuality of war, not a romanticized version of events. The hard truth is that there were more than a million deaths in the Civil War, some were free men, some were slaves, some were civilians, but all men are raceless, classless and virtueless when lifeless.

Outbreaks of diseases were very common, but with a minimal amount of medicine in the camp, most people didn’t do much to cure it. “Here the sound of shouting, cries, and oh, so many flies. Everyone knows flies carry disease…. Here in Terezin, life is hell, and when I’ll go home again, I can’t yet yell” (Volavková). There were flies everywhere ready to bite anyone they could, but flies carry disease.