Saturday, July 4, 2009

WHY DID THEY COME III



I play this part of the movie "Gods and Generals" to depict to the students the horror of the Civil War. Brothers fought brothers and new Americans were forced to fight their countrymen. What a horrible dilemmma.

I find it intensely interesting, as a history guy, that it seems the old hatreds of Europe merely transplanted themselves to America. The Irish still hold Cromwell in contempt for his treatment of them once he took power after the English Civil War in 1649. Two hundred plus years later that played out on a battlefield in the New World.

5 comments:

Average American said...

The Civil War was BY FAR the worst war we have ever fought. If you watch some of the reenactments, you might be seeing 1/2 of the actually brutality, probably not even half.

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

Some people found "Gettysburg" and "Gods And Generals" to be boring; I found them COMPLETELY fascinating. It was estimated that, at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, there were over 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded and/or missing in that one day.

More Americans died in the Civil War than in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietname War, and 9/11 combined.

BZ

Law and Order Teacher said...

AA,
That's scary isn't it? I can't even imagine what that was like. Thanks for the visit, brother.

BZ,
The carnage of the Civil War is hard to wrap your mind around. Boring? Wow, I get it. Some of these people are just the game generation and they can't listen to dialogue. Too bad.
Thanks for the visit.

PRH said...

16 direct desendants(that I know of) fought for the Union in the Civil War....I guess my great Grandpappy and his brothers and cousins(including William who died at Chickamauga) must be rolling in their graves if they can see what has happened to our once great republic.

James' Muse said...

I can't watch videos at work, so I'll have to check this out at home. Good blog, though. I hope you don't mind, I added you to my blogroll (under Conservatives). First found you on Truth's blog and liked the way you presented your opinions.