Civil War Essays

As discussed in class, you are expected to write a 5 - 7 page research paper covering some aspect of the Civil War that will involve primary historical documents.



Browse the Valley of the Shadow Archive to help you decide the topic for your paper.



http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/choosepart.html



You may use the page below to help you decide on a topic if you like.



http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/teaching/vclassroom/vclasscontents.html#topics

Here are some primary sources for you to use:

http://www.awod.com/gallery/probono/cwchas/firstper.html


Other possible essays:



Was the Civil War inevitable?



Shelby Foote has said the Civil War changed the United States from an "are" to an "is"; as in prior to the conflict, people would say, "The United States are..." and after the conflict they would say, "The United States is..." Agree or disagree with this assessment.



Explain how the South was able to win the war through to 1863. Were the Confederacy's generals so much superior to the Union's? How was the North unable to exploit it's numerical, financial, and technological superiority?


Compare a civil war personality with another historical figure of another era.


Who should get the blame or the credit for military victory at Gettysburg?


How would North America have been changed had the South won its independence?



Any other topic as approved by me. Please ensure that your topic has enough material to allow you to write a substantive paper. Also make sure your topic has a research question to it that allows you to justify a position rather than tell about something.

You may also write a researched short story, much like the novel, "Shiloh," by Shelby Foote.

Civil War

We have completed our study of the Civil War period. Continued below you will find the supplemental material that we covered in class:

First Manassas/Bull Run:

http://www.historyanimated.com/BullRunAnimation.html

Birth of the Rebel Yell:

One of the first accounts of the yell was given at the battle of First Battle of Manasses (Bull Run) during then Brig. General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson's assault at Henry House Hill where the order was given during a bayonet charge to "yell like furies", and was instrumental in routing the Federal forces under General Irvin McDowell back to Washington D.C.

“Then arose that do-or-die expression, that maniacal maelstrom of sound; that penetrating, rasping, shrieking, blood-curdling noise that could be heard for miles and whose volume reached the heavens–such an expression as never yet came from the throats of sane men, but from men whom the seething blast of an imaginary hell would not check while the sound lasted.” -Colonel Keller Anderson of Kentucky's Orphan Brigade

Zouaves

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouave#Zouaves_of_the_United_States_of_America_and_of_the_Confederate_States

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

http://learn.bowdoin.edu/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain/overview/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_ChamberlainMilitary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Chamberlain

Military Drill (Including moving from Column of Fours to Line of Battle)

http://www.public.asu.edu/~roblewis/ACW/hardee%20toc.htm

Fredericksburg

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/civilwar/p/fredericksburg.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fredericksburg


Irish Brigade

http://irishvolunteers.tripod.com/irish_brigade_history.htm

http://88ny.net/Battles.htm

http://www.28thmass.org/history.htm


A Civil War Christmas

http://www.awod.com/gallery/probono/cwchas/fredxmas.html

http://www.premiumchristmastree.com/a39/Christmas-During-the-Civil-War/article_info.html

William Pendleton --Artillery Chief of the Army of Northern Virginia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_N._Pendleton

Civil War Music

http://www.civilwarmusic.net/

Origin of the Term "Dixie" to Describe the South

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie


The Emancipation Proclamation

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/

Symbolism of the Pineapple

http://www.mindspring.com/~sixcatpack/pineappl.htm

Chancellorsville

http://www.civilwaranimated.com/index.php/chancellorsville-east-35

Gettysburg

http://www.civilwaranimated.com/index.php/gettysburg-east-50

http://www.usa-civil-war.com/Gettysburg/g_view_f.html

Iron Brigade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Brigade

Artillery Drill

http://www.melfisher.org/cannonsurvey/firing.htm

http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/interp/lhcannon.htm

1863-1865 Timeline

http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/e-gov/e-politicalarchive-CivilWar2.htm

Gods and Generals

After a brief introduction, we have started watching Gods and Generals, the story of the Civil War up to Gettysburg.

We are using the film to go through a chronology of the war that will be supplemented in class with other material.

We have covered the following topics:

Battle Flags

http://www.oldstatehouse.com/collections/flags/

Robert E. Lee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

http://www.civilwarhome.com/jackbio.htm

The Black Flag

The Black Flag was flown by certain irregular Confederate Army units to symbolize that they would neither give, nor accept quarter; symbolizing the opposite of the white flag of surrender.
Dates of Secession

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215469/secession.htm