tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2972158399131973757.post4300583551564119211..comments2024-02-20T01:38:55.934-05:00Comments on All Not So Quiet Along the Potomac: Why the Civil War?Ron Baumgartenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12449787740945022061noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2972158399131973757.post-4823038740020696632012-07-25T19:50:10.073-04:002012-07-25T19:50:10.073-04:00Richard--I like that! Sometimes a topic has unive...Richard--I like that! Sometimes a topic has universal appeal for a multitude of reasons, some of which defy description. The Civil War fits into that category.Ron Baumgartenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12449787740945022061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2972158399131973757.post-72362688652933218872012-07-25T18:37:46.179-04:002012-07-25T18:37:46.179-04:00One phrase that popped into my mind today is "...One phrase that popped into my mind today is "it factor" which is sometimes used in pop culture. Does the Civil War just have the "it factor" at least for many of us?<br /><br />Of course, that leaves us trying to figure out what "it" is, and that may just be rephrasing your question, but right now it works for me - the Civil War and all involved with it just has an "it factor" for me - a catchall term for all the many reasons why it fascinates me.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16080050613624485848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2972158399131973757.post-13355683134817519992012-07-24T22:09:56.290-04:002012-07-24T22:09:56.290-04:00Thanks for your insightful comment. I think you a...Thanks for your insightful comment. I think you are really on to something that I didn’t exactly articulate in the post. Perhaps, as you say, it is the very nature of the war -- a civil war -- that drives our intense interest in the conflict. The high death toll was a result of Americans killing Americans. We are surrounded by the Civil War on all sides because it happened right here, on our own soil. The modern instruments of war were used by one part of our country against the other. We are left to ponder how this happened, what it was all about, and how we came together again. It is a fascinating story that has filled millions of pages and created an equal number of "buffs" and historians over the years. <br /> <br />A civil war is a traumatic, internal struggle that naturally inhabits a space that is different from a war against another country. I am not sure how other countries view their own, but in some places, like Latin America, the process of reconciliation and healing is still ongoing.Ron Baumgartenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12449787740945022061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2972158399131973757.post-15700561198580062492012-07-24T18:18:40.268-04:002012-07-24T18:18:40.268-04:00Good topic.
I think part of it is just the nature...Good topic.<br /><br />I think part of it is just the nature of Civil War - brother against brother, neighbor vs. neighbor, etc. <br /><br />The Revolution may have been somewhat similar, but when the Redcoats lost, they went home, thousands of miles away. When the Confederates lost, they went across the river, or down the road, or maybe longer away, but still on the same continent, under the same government. There was no separation of victors from losers physically, and reconstruction and the whole lost cause narrative proved that old feelings do not always die easily.<br /><br />I think that's where it started and was passed down through generations, where stuff like battlefields, monuments (especially erected by veterans and their families) and other physical representations of the war continue to attract attention. <br /><br />I think the existence of so many photographs from the war -the first real images of American soldiers, living and dead - plays a part too.<br /><br />To keep from rambling too much and wrap it up, I think the fact it was a Civil War, on the land where we still live today, with many physical monuments, tombstones, markers, field, etc, left to grab our attention is a large, perhaps the largest, factor. It may be the very nature of a Civil War to leave a lasting impression on the people in the land where it happened. Maybe a Confederate victory and a split of the nation would have changed that, but the country not only is together geographically, but came back (not always easily or quickly) together under the same government, with the same language, background and similar cultures. <br /><br />I wonder if Civil Wars in other countries fascinate people there today like ours does.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16080050613624485848noreply@blogger.com