08-25 12:52 - 'I think this is where we teach history of this time wrong. Kids growing up today are used to our country being one strong Union and then they take this reflection and try to apply it to times that were entirely different...' by /u/Kitzinger1 removed from /r/history within 387-397min
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I think this is where we teach history of this time wrong. Kids growing up today are used to our country being one strong Union and then they take this reflection and try to apply it to times that were entirely different.
The schools don't teach that there was only a very small US army at the time and that most of the Armies consisted of area Armies and this included the Union. The area you lived in was the place of your birth and the place you were to defend with your life. The life back then was very segmented and divided not just state to state but town to town.
Most of the people in the south didn't give a crap about slavery one way or the other. Now, you get a bunch of foreigners marching down from the North into their area trying to tell them how to live their lives well that was a whole different thing. Suddenly, all these people who had nothing to do with slavery were facing a hostile invading force looking to subjugate them.
The South looked at the United States more like a collection of allies and the North had grown more accustomed of seeing the United States as we do today.
Kids can't understand why one side fought the other. They are given a simplistic answer: Slavery. It was more than that. The people in the South didn't look at it that way. They looked at it as they were fighting for their very homes and were being invaded by a group of people who wanted to destroy their lives.
The Union though saw it as something different. This was the United States and they were more than an agreement between allies. There were abolitionist who saw slavery as the worse sin on earth and that it had to be eradicated even if it meant their lives. It was a religious war of right and wrong. This was a war of meaning for them. This was the cause of all causes. This was something worth dying for.
People don't understand how the United States could get to a point where people were willing to kill each other in such large amounts. How could a brother kill his own brother? How could a Father walk out and shoot his son in the head? That right there is unthinkable and unable to be comprehended.
Well you have one side fighting for a cause that is on the level of being spiritual and the other fighting because they believe their lives and home are in danger. When those two forces meet there is no give on either side. It will be a drawn out battle to the death. And that was the Civil War. It was a battle of endurance in which one side or the other would die.
Most of the Confederate troops didn't give two shits about slavery. The Plantation owners were rich smug assholes who didn't help them none anyways. They had their big rich lands, slaves, and very few workers. It would be like you hearing that Nicholas Cage was having all his assets seized and you deciding that this was a cause to die for. You don't give two shits about Nicholas Cage. He doesn't help you and what does he do with his money... He blows it all on himself. Fuck that dude.
I just think history should also be taught with context on what was the life like at that time. A 150 years later we look at it in a whole different light than they did back then.
Then we get to WW 1 and that left everyone being taught confused as fuck. How the hell did an assassination lead to all these countries fighting each other? I don't even think my High School History knew. Here is the basics of what you need to know to pass the State test and... Let's move on to WW 2.
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Author: u/Kitzinger1
Posted Aug 25, 2017, 12:52 PM UTC