The American Civil War coincided with the Victorian era, one of the most morally repressive eras in history for women. Everything from a woman’s dress to her education were tightly constricted by societal mores that governed her every action.
These Victorian values that women of the Civil War era abided by were certainly not set aside with the coming of war; a woman’s contribution to the war effort was supposed to begin – and usually end – at home. However, as the war dragged on and more and more men left their jobs, homes, and lives for the war effort, women found themselves taking over farms, working in shops, teaching in schools, and otherwise taking over for the men who’d gone to war. Read the rest of this entry »
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A failed farmer, businessman, and bill collector. A president roundly criticized as a supporter of corruption. Ulysses S. Grant was not an astute businessman, or even an inspired president; however, as a soldier, he was a success. Grant’s leadership of the U.S. Army during the Civil War made him one of the most celebrated and respected generals that the U.S. has ever produced. His was an unqualified success, one that few would have predicted.
Born in Ohio in 1822, Hiram Ulysses Grant appealed to his U.S. Congressman, Thomas L. Hamer, for admission to West Point at the age of 17. Hamer unwittingly gave Hiram Ulysses Grant the name he would become known for – apparently confused as to the young Grant’s full name, Hamer nominated him as “Ulysses S. Grant,” the S. short for Simpson, Grant’s mother’s maiden name. Read the rest of this entry »
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On August 8, 2000, a crowd gathered at Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. They were there to watch the recovery of a vessel that had been underwater for 136 years, a vessel that had been touted as the most important underwater archaeological find of the 20th century.
The crowd was awaiting the recovery of the H.L. Hunley , the Civil War-era submarine that is widely recognized as the first submarine to actually sink a warship. While the excavation of the Hunley was an important and exciting event, the history of the ship is just as intriguing and significant. Read the rest of this entry »
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Aside from Robert E. Lee, no figure from the Confederacy was more beloved during the Civil War, or glorified afterward than General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson. Revered by his compatriots, respected by his foes, studied by military students even today, Jackson was an intriguing man whose shadow loomed large the duration of the war, despite the fact that he died from injuries sustained at Chancellorsville in 1863, the midpoint of the war. Read the rest of this entry »
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How does one free slaves in another country? How does one free slaves over which one has no control?
President Abraham Lincoln attempted to do just that, when he issued the two-part Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and 1863. Criticized by Northerners, sneered at by Southerners, the Emancipation Proclamation evidenced more than anything Lincoln’s foresight and conviction that the Union would be once again be the United States of America – all states of America. Read the rest of this entry »
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