Perspectives of

the Civil War

Civil War - Slavery

Slaves worked the large farms where labor intensive cash crops,

such as tobacco and cotton, were grown.

Slavery was introduced to the European colonist, as a

solution to help them work the land for food and

wealth. (Civil War Trust)

There were tension among the states as to the economic

benefits and the moral issues.

After many years of cruel an inhumane treatment, slavery

was outlawed on December 6, 1865. (Civil War Trust)

Civil War - Education

Public education did not exist at this time.

Schools were formed by:

Churches

Civic minded groups

Half of the school aged children attended.

Mostly the white native American born attended.

Fewer Immigrant and black children attended. (Civil War

Trust)

Attendance in the southern states was

affected more by the war, than the

attendance in the northern schools.

Children attended fewer years, because

they worked in the fields to help the

family. Agricultural economy dictated the

school schedules, and most textbooks

came from the northern states.

School’s conditions for the common child:

one room * many ages * memorization and recitation *

corporal punishment

School’s condition for the wealthier child:

segregated by female and male * boarding schools *

intensive curriculum * variety of offerings in languages,

sciences and philosophy (History Central)

Education of the black children

Generals Sherman and Grant helped

establish and supported education for

the freed African American people

Literacy was the tool for

empowerment and social

Advancement. (Blassingame)

Civil War - Music

How music affected the soldiers

sang mostly hymns due to the Christian faith and practice

in antebellum culture

War and death brought the soldier’s faith, belief and

behavior into clearer focus

built community among the soldiers

distracted themselves by singing and playing instruments

Composers and Songwriters

Louis Gotschalk was a popular American composer during

1829-1869. His main work was a commemorative hymn

for those lost at war – “They who seek the Throne of

Grace” (Lowens/Starr)

Stephen Foster was known as America’s best 19th century

songwriter. He had many famous recordings which

included “Oh Sussanna”. (song writers hall of fame)

Music reflected various themes of the Civil War.

It told the stories of American temperature, river

life and work, conditions on the battlefield, slavery

and plantation life. Some songs were written about

local heros. One folk hero During the civil war was

John Brown. He was an abolitionist and an extremist.

The song in the link below, was an anthem Of his

fight against slavery.

John Brown ‘s body

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSSn3NddwFQ

Civil War – The Bible and Religion

American Bible Society was formed to

provide and to share the scriptures with all

people and to the soldiers of the war.

Distribution of Bibles:

Soldiers in North and in the South

Over 5,297,832 Bibles handed out (Sun Herold)

The Bible was used as a weapon, by both the North and South,

to support their own battle cries.

The Bible was used to promote their stance on Slavery.

Southern preachers defended by using scripture such as

Ephesians 6:5 and Titus 2:9. (Brinton)

The Northern shared their thoughts through a well

known song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which talked

of dying to make all men free.

Bible reading and religion was highly esteemed

by the Generals

They felt that a devoted religious man made a better soldier.

Bible was used to create fervor to fight the battle.

Bible was used to create self-discipline and help the soldiers

to think of the “higher calling” to come.

The Bible and religion played a role as a tool for

the black south in rallying for the freedom fighters

and the cause for equality.

The Bible influenced the black south by

empowering them in culture and language, which

in return led them to leadership,

civil rights, arts and education.

Civil War - Art

Many different forms of art that came from the Civil War era.

The Museum of Biblical Arts exhibition is an expression of art, that

allows history to come alive. This exhibit showcases Bibles that

were given to the soldiers from the 19th century to current times.

The exhibit also includes stories from the men and women that

read the Bibles; their struggles with hardship and the place of

religion in their lives. (Civil War Trust/Harvey)

Photography and Paintings were the storytellers

of the Civil War.

The landscape paintings of Homer and

Johnson went from being beautiful

countryside and the symbol of American

Nationalism, to trampled crops, burned

trees and devastation.

Poetry came alive during the Civil War

Walt Whitman and Herman Melville were popular in their art forms.

Walt Whitman served as a nurse in the military hospitals and

journalized his findings. These inscriptions led to many famous

poems including the writing “Specimen Days.”

Herman Melville was known for his knotty, passionate poems of the

war. He was known for the writing of “Browns Execution” which

summarized the repercussions after the Harpers Ferry raid.

(Cotter)

Battlefield photos taken by Brady, Gardner and O’Sullivan were

distorted by the liberties taken to move the corpses and to

stage the photos for dramatic effect.

Art was the form where their feelings and patriotic issues could

be released and citied.

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/slavery.html

Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War edited by Patricia L. Faust (Harper Perennial, 1991), Encyclopedia of the Civil War

edited by John S. Bowman (Dorset Press, 1992), and The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War by Bruce Catton (Bonanza

Books, 1982).

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/on-the-homefront/culture/education.html

Adapted from An Introduction to Civil War Civilians by Juanita Leisch (Thomas Publications, 1994)

www.historycentral.com/CivilWar/AMERICA/education.html

http://markrhoads.com/soldiershymns/index.htm

Singing the Songs of Zion. Soldiers' Hymn Collections and Hymn Singing in the American Civil War .Mark D. Rhoads

http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/bio/C10

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/arts/design/the-civil-war-and-american-art-smithsonian-american-art.html?pagewanted=all

By Holland Cotter, ‘The Civil War and American Art,’ Smithsonian American Art Published: January 10, 2013,

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

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-and-american-art/

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

Blassingame, John W. (1965). The Union Army as an Educational Institution for Negroes, 1862-1865. In The Journal of Negro Education,

Vol. 34, No. 2. pp. 152–159.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-02-28-column28_ST_N.htm

religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/12/how-the-bible-was-used-to-justify-slavery-abolitionism

http://wordoftruthradio.org/2011/12/the-bible-played-a-role-on-the-civil-wars-battlefields

The Bible Played a Role on the Civil War’s Battlefields by KDS on DECEMBER 20, 2011

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