The Real Reason for Emancipation
Most Americans think the Civil War was fought to free the slaves, but that just isn’t the case. The rallying cry for the North was
to maintain the Union, and millions of men enlisted in order to do so. Emancipating the slaves was actually a very risky endeavor by Lincoln, because racism was rampant in the North and it wasn’t clear that Northerners would fight with, or for blacks. To be honest the thought of blacks having guns probably scared the heck out of most of them.
It is a general consensus among historians that Lincoln freed the slaves because it would give the North a military advantage, not because he has some moral obligation to do so. Freeing the slaves removed the Confederates main source of labor, which weakened their already stifled economy. Additionally, blacks were allowed to serve in the Unions military doing various roles. Earlier in the war Congress passed the Confiscation Acts, which allowed Union soldiers to free slaves in any Confederate territory, controlled by the North. So there seemed to be an inclination at least that freeing the slaves would hurt the Confederates.
Lincoln came to the conclusion that saving the Union and freeing the slaves would have to happen concurrently sometime in the middle of 1862. It was in July of 1862 that he first told his advisors of his intentions to do so while on a carriage ride. That decision would lead to Lincoln’s greatest legacy, but one that has been skewed in history.
Resources – http://hnn.us/blogs/mythic_america/147318.html
General Custer Didn’t Want to Go to Little Bighorn
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Civil War Sailors’ Facial Reconstruction
Scientists Reconstruct Faces of Civil War Sailors
One-hundred-fifty-year-old ghosts rarely look so detailed.
In 1862, two ironclad warships from opposing sides of the American Civil War blasted each other silly in the Battle of Hampton Roads. Although neither vessel could inflict much damage on the other, the Union’s USS Monitor and the Confederacy’s CSS Virginia opened a new era in naval technology as wooden sailing frigates gave way to armored warships with steam engines. The Monitor, however, didn’t have long to live; it sank in rough seas on December 1862 and sat for more than a century.
Read More at Scientists Reconstruct Faces of Civil War Sailors – USS Monitor – Popular Mechanics.
Story by Rob Goodier
Modern Journalism Began with the Civil War
How the Civil War gave birth to modern journalism in the nation’s capital
The life of a newspaper correspondent in pre-Civil War Washington was marked by insultingly low wages, uncertain job security and frequent charges of inaccurate or biased reporting.
So, in a way, not much has changed in 150 years.
But the onset of the conflict in 1861 acted like a spike of adrenaline for the city’s journalists.
Read more of the article at How the Civil War gave birth to modern journalism in the nation’s capital – The Washington Post.
Story by Paul Farhi – The Washington Post; Photo from the National Archives
Secret Renaissance Letter Reveals Plan to Save England
Secret Renaissance Letter Reveals Plan to Save England
A newly discovered document, written by one of Europe’s most famous philosophers, Thomas Hobbes, reveals a plan that, if successful, could have turned the tide of one of England’s bloodiest wars.
In the words of Hobbes, the plan would prevent the “ruine of the English nation.” The document was written during the height of the English civil war, a series of conflicts between 1642 and 1651 that saw King Charles I (and later his son Charles II), pitted against his country’s parliament.
Read the rest of the article at Secret Renaissance Letter Reveals Plan to Save England | Philosopher Thomas Hobbes & English Civil War | King Charles I & Earl of Warwick | LiveScience.
Story by Owen Jarus – LiveScience
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