Understanding the Civil War and Its Aftermath

Posted on Aug 2, 2024 in Latin

Civil War & Post-Civil War

What Constitutes the Civil War?

The Civil War was a major American war fought from 1861 to 1865. It was fought between the secessionist Southern states, called the Confederacy, and the remaining parts of the United States, called the Union. The Union opposed slavery but originally fought the Civil War simply to keep the nation intact.

Topics Developed During the Civil War:

  • Industry vs. Farming
  • States’ Rights
  • Slavery
  • Expansion
  • Secession
  • Abraham Lincoln

Common American Authors During the Civil War Era:

  • Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass
  • Emily Dickinson: Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  • Stephen Crane: The Red Badge of Courage
  • Ambrose Bierce: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Christmas Bells
  • Kate Chopin: Beyond the Bayou

Regions That Participated During the Civil War:

Northern: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Southern: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.

What Constitutes the Post-Civil War?

Much of the Southern United States was destroyed during the Civil War. Farms and plantations were burned down, and their crops destroyed. Additionally, many people had Confederate money, which was now worthless, and the local governments were in disarray. The South needed to be rebuilt.

Topics Developed During This Era (Post-Civil War):

  • Economic Struggles
  • Women’s Social Situation
  • External Reality (Rebuild)
  • Internal Mental Process (Pain, Suffering)
  • Death

Common American Authors During the Post-Civil War:

  • Walt Whitman: Drum Taps
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature
  • Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven
  • Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
  • Kate Chopin: The Story of an Hour; The Awakening

There Were 2 Types of People During Reconstruction:

  • Carpetbaggers
  • Scalawags

Who Were the Carpetbaggers?

A carpetbagger refers to Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. These people were perceived to be exploiting the local populace.

Who Were the Scalawags?

The scalawags were white Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party after the Civil War.

10 Facts You Should Know About the Civil War & Reconstruction (Post-Civil War):

  • Fact #1: The Civil War was fought between the Northern and Southern states from 1861-1865.
  • Fact #2: Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States during the Civil War.
  • Fact #3: Before the United States was formed, many different civilizations existed on the American continent called “Native Americans.”
  • Fact #4: The issues of slavery and central power divided the United States.
  • Fact #5: The Civil War began when Southern troops bombarded Fort Sumter, South Carolina.
  • Fact #6: The North had more men and war materials than the South.
  • Fact #7: The bloodiest battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
  • Fact #8: The North won the Civil War.
  • Fact #9: After the war was over, the Constitution was amended to free the slaves, assure “equal protection under the law” for American citizens, and grant black men the right to vote.
  • Fact #10: Many Civil War battlefields are threatened by development.

Authors Facts:

Emily Dickinson: Regarded as one of America’s greatest poets, she is also well known for her unusual life of self-imposed social seclusion. Living a life of simplicity and seclusion, she wrote poetry of great power, questioning the nature of immortality and death, with at times an almost repetitive quality.

Ambrose Bierce: He worked as a printer’s apprentice and enlisted to fight in the Civil War. After the war, he worked as an editor, journalist, and short story writer, capturing his war experiences in vivid detail.

Kate Chopin: She is an American writer best known for her stories about the inner lives of sensitive, daring women; known for her feminist-themed novel. She began her literary career as a translator and a writer of short stories and magazine articles.

Stephen Crane: Due to Crane’s new reputation as a war writer, as well as his curiosity about his accuracy in depicting psychological states of combat, he undertook a new career as a war correspondent. Crane liked to write about the meaning of courage and explore courage in the face of the most daunting trial imaginable: battle.

Mark Twain: He was a major American writer from Missouri. His stories and novels are famous for their humor, vivid details, and memorable characters.

Edgar Allan Poe: He is an American writer and poet, famous for his tales and poems of horror and mystery.

Walt Whitman: He is famous for his poetry. He wrote in simple language so that regular folks could access his poetry easily. Sounds pretty good to us. When he writes, he focuses on a strong emphasis on the individual self.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: He believes that everything in our world, even a drop of dew, is a microcosm of the universe.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Despite his constant situations in life, he wrote many successful poems, reflecting the pain that the Civil War made him feel.

Isms

What is an Ism?

Distinctive practices, ideologies, or artistic movements that often define a particular era.

What are the Types of Isms?

  • Romanticism
  • Naturalism
  • Realism
  • Psychological Realism
  • Transcendentalism
  • Impressionism

Romanticism: From the late 18th century to the early 19th century, this movement sought to break from the previous “Age of Reason.” Writers sought to celebrate the individual and imagination.

Naturalism: During this era, people were passing through dark times and harsh realities of life because of the Civil War. Writers sought to depict life as it truly was: nothing fancy and simply true to its time and place. The language used in their writings was not fancy, not wild or savage, not imaginative; authors often used simple words to describe an environment or action, in everyday language that we all can relate to.

Realism: Faithful representation of reality; represents middle-class life. Principal topics of this ism include the Civil War, post-Civil War, death, destruction, no hope, and dark times. It is similar to naturalism, but the difference is that naturalism uses simple language instead of realism, which uses fancy, complicated, and unusual words to describe pain.

Psychological Realism: Late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fiction writing that analyzes the conscious and unconscious. It focuses on the motivations and internal thoughts of characters to explain their actions. Most authors use their characters to describe or express a social or political issue that is happening in the real world. It seeks to show not only what the characters do but also to explain why they took such actions. There is always a dilemma in the story.

Transcendentalism: Focus on the spiritual connection between humans and nature was the main point of this movement. Writers during this age wanted to keep away from the conventions and rules of society; instead, they wanted to “find new life in nature.”

Impressionism: Developed during the 19th century. This movement always seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to depict accurate perfection. Writers usually use a narrative style and an ambiguous meaning. Characteristics include authors often describing the action through the eyes of the character while the events are occurring, avoiding chronological telling of events, and providing information in a way that forces readers to focus on how and why things happen.

Relevant Isms for the Exam:

  • Naturalism
  • Realism
  • Psychological Realism
  • Impressionism