Comments on: Traditional Views of the Civil War http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2008/06/20/traditional-views-of-the-civil-war/ Informed Amateurs Blog the American Civil War Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:41:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: R.P. Collins http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2008/06/20/traditional-views-of-the-civil-war/comment-page-1/#comment-4691 R.P. Collins Sun, 24 May 2009 14:30:37 +0000 http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/?p=1247#comment-4691 Right, I realize it’s a group blog. For “your” I meant “y’all’s.” Right, I realize it’s a group blog. For “your” I meant “y’all’s.”

]]> By: admin http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2008/06/20/traditional-views-of-the-civil-war/comment-page-1/#comment-815 admin Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:31:29 +0000 http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/?p=1247#comment-815 Also, Fred Ray posted "Old Thousand Yards". We have several people blogging on TOCWOC. Brett Also, Fred Ray posted “Old Thousand Yards”. We have several people blogging on TOCWOC.

Brett

]]> By: admin http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2008/06/20/traditional-views-of-the-civil-war/comment-page-1/#comment-814 admin Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:29:23 +0000 http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/?p=1247#comment-814 R.P., James Durney posted this blog entry, so I can't really comment on your thoughts above. I'll let James respond himself instead. Brett S. R.P.,

James Durney posted this blog entry, so I can’t really comment on your thoughts above. I’ll let James respond himself instead.

Brett S.

]]> By: R.P. Collins http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/2008/06/20/traditional-views-of-the-civil-war/comment-page-1/#comment-813 R.P. Collins Sun, 22 Jun 2008 06:57:29 +0000 http://www.brettschulte.net/CWBlog/?p=1247#comment-813 A thoughtful discussion, although with more typos and redundancies than most of your posts. You lose steam at the "Emancipation Tradition" and handle it as if it were a recent innovation. Yet this is the school of thought that believed an "irrepressible conflict" had existed between the sections, that the issue was slavery and its consequences, and that it could only be resolved by violence. I just inherited a copy of Horace Greeley's two-volume history of the war (1864-66), which dwells at length on the so-called rise of the Slave Power; Vice Pres. Henry Wilson also wrote of the "rise and fall of the Slave Power in America" a decade later. What is hardest for us to grasp from our place on the timeline is how such views could be compatible with white supremacist views on race. Celebrations of the service of more than 200,000 black Union troops, followed by collective amnesia, and a revival of memory and scholarship in recent years, is one clue to the standing of this tradition over time. It's an error to dismiss the Reconciliation Tradition as "never strong"; you yourself provide evidence to the contrary. How did the definitive records collection, titled "The War of the Rebellion," become known as "Official Records"? Tell me it wasn't done for the sake of reconciliation. Finally, any discussion of traditions about the war's meaning could benefit from a distinction between the motives of soldiers and of political leaders. Most of the time, Billy and Johnny had remarkably similar reasons for going to fight and for re-enlisting. Your interesting post on "Old Thousand Yards" is a reminder of that. Hosmer refers vaguely to "the great principle" of the war, but it probably would not have been wise to get more specific. A thoughtful discussion, although with more typos and redundancies than most of your posts. You lose steam at the “Emancipation Tradition” and handle it as if it were a recent innovation. Yet this is the school of thought that believed an “irrepressible conflict” had existed between the sections, that the issue was slavery and its consequences, and that it could only be resolved by violence. I just inherited a copy of Horace Greeley’s two-volume history of the war (1864-66), which dwells at length on the so-called rise of the Slave Power; Vice Pres. Henry Wilson also wrote of the “rise and fall of the Slave Power in America” a decade later. What is hardest for us to grasp from our place on the timeline is how such views could be compatible with white supremacist views on race. Celebrations of the service of more than 200,000 black Union troops, followed by collective amnesia, and a revival of memory and scholarship in recent years, is one clue to the standing of this tradition over time.

It’s an error to dismiss the Reconciliation Tradition as “never strong”; you yourself provide evidence to the contrary. How did the definitive records collection, titled “The War of the Rebellion,” become known as “Official Records”? Tell me it wasn’t done for the sake of reconciliation.

Finally, any discussion of traditions about the war’s meaning could benefit from a distinction between the motives of soldiers and of political leaders. Most of the time, Billy and Johnny had remarkably similar reasons for going to fight and for re-enlisting. Your interesting post on “Old Thousand Yards” is a reminder of that. Hosmer refers vaguely to “the great principle” of the war, but it probably would not have been wise to get more specific.

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