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Literary Visions of the Civil War The American Civil War

The American Civil War (1861 û 1865) was the first mechanized war. Troops were moved by train, and the Gatling gun û the first machine gun û was introduced to devastating effect. Another novelty was the photographic record of the aftermath of hostilities (the photographic plates were too insensitive to light to capture the action) produced by Matthew Brady and his men. For the first time in history the horrible carnage of war could be preserved and communicated to anyone.

Although the war dragged on for four years, and the North suffered from shockingly incompetent generals, the long term outcome was not in doubt after the first year. General Robert E. Lee scored a string of victories, but was unable to penetrate into the North. The battle of Gettysburg sealed the fate of the Confederacy, because it suffered significant losses in men and material, which it was unable to replenish.

The industrial base and much larger population

of the Northeast were the factors of their ultimate defeat. As General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote in 1860, "In all historyàno nation of mere agriculturalists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanicsàyou are bound to fail" (National Geographic, p. 166).

The reality of war and how it is remembered are two different things. Its commemoration is decent and fitting if it is solemn and dignified, and the murderous essence of the activity is not glorified. If, on the other hand, the anniversary of a past war is used to fan the contagious hysteria of patriotic militarism, it should be universally condemned.

Until they are directly affected by it, violence has an innate attraction to people. Killing is a crime in all societies until they go to war; then it is encouraged. One could see it clearly in the outbreak of war fever in the American mass media before the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003: the usually sedate New York Times û not to mention Fox News and its co

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Literary Visions of the Civil War The American Civil War. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 15:14, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1705853.html