December+Journals

Expansion and Reform, //The American Journey,// Chapters 13-17, and //Battle Cry of Freedom//, December Journal Entries: =Barbara Estes, Bagley Jr. High= This book by James McPherson is most assuredly an intensive comprehensive explanation of the Civil War and those circumstances which preceded and surrounded it. He tried to tell the historical events via documentation, impartially, and with intelligibility. He exposed it from all aspects, the lowly private soldier to the high ranking and famous generals, from the noted politicians as well as the average citizen. He seemed by and large mostly concerned with the political and social motivation surrounding the war. Mr. McPherson supported his writings and findings with extensive research and detail; maybe too much detail at times. It is also my opinion that an immense amount of time is required in order to read and give this book the concentrated attention it deserves. I am sorry to reveal, however, that as of late, time and explicit concentration to specifics was not on the agenda, at least not for this book and me. A plan to use the information I acquired from this excellent source is not applicable to my present teaching position. I teach on the topics and history that happens beyond the period known as Reconstruction to the present. However, the information will and can be used as a reference and resource documentation in the my sixth grade classroom.

=Barry Johnson, Mt. Olive Elementary School=

The American Journey Chapters 13 -17 We are now into some of the subject matter that I as a fourth grade teacher teach. I particularly enjoy teaching about the Civil War and its impact on Alabama. I do not get to spend as much time as I would like teaching about the Civil War due to time constraints. The following is a brief overview of the chapters we were to read. The country was divided into states permitting slavery and states prohibiting it. In 1820, politicians debated the question of whether slavery would be legal in the western territories. The Missouri Compromise permitted slavery in the new state of Missouri and the Arkansas Territory but it was barred everywhere west and north of Missouri. Sectional lines steadily hardened on the slavery question. Politically, the 1850s can be characterized as a decade of failure in which the nation's leaders were unable to resolve, or even contain, the divisive issue of slavery. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, eleven states left the Union and proclaimed themselves an independent nation, the Confederate States of America: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The American Civil War had begun. Four years later, the Confederates surrendered. The Civil War put an end to slavery; it also made clear that the country was not a collection of semi-independent states but an indivisible whole. In December 1865, Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery. In the first quarter of the 19th century, the frontier was pushed beyond the Mississippi River. In 1803, President Jefferson negotiated the purchase of Louisiana with the French. From 1816 to 1821, six new states were created -- Indiana, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, Alabama and Missouri. In 1865 the frontier line generally followed the western limits of the states bordering the Mississippi River, bulging outward to include the eastern sections of Kansas and Nebraska. A mere quarter-century later, virtually all this country had been carved into states and territories. Western expansion led to increasing conflicts with the Indians of the West.

Review of Battle Cry of Freedom Although a lengthy read I found this book to be a compliment to what I teach in Alabama History. In the beginning the author recalls the generals who served in the Mexican War and how they were led to the greater, more personal conflict in 1861 as friends and enemies. He reaches back to the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of 1787, bringing us through the torturous trail that was the basis for America's founding and what some call the inevitable path to civil war. The book's greatest strength lies in the exploration of the details which brought about this inevitability; the Declaration's omission by not dealing with slavery, the Constitution's allowance of its continuance, the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise and the Dred Scott Decision as well as the many other events which were precursors to the loss of more than 600,000 Americans. When battles are described, McPherson uses the interim between them to tell us what was happening in other aspects of government, the reactions of the people, politics and international reaction. The battles are related not only as to their excitement and ferocity but, more important, their effect on the outcome of the war. (How many times could the war have ended had individual outcomes been different, for the actions of its principals, ruled by their personalities and the quirks of weather, health and fate, been different?) McPherson devotes considerable thought to slavery and promises that he will treat the subject further in his subsequent writings. He tells of the impact of Negro military forces in the fighting on the outcome to the point of the South's eventually giving in to using Blacks near the end in desperation despite the protests of many Southerners. The importance of the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation on Black enlistments is brought to mind and how hard they believed and fought, "If the white man can fight for my freedom, we can fight just as hard." I would highly recommend Battle Cry of Freedom to anyone interested in American history. An understanding of this epochal period is crucial in understanding what we were and what we are.

=**Charzeta Richardson, Hueytown Middle School**=

This book took me a while to read, because I was caught up on the 862 pages of reading. When I finally got over that, the Battle Cry of Freedom was not so bad. Despite its considerable length, McPherson’s writing was brisk, crisp, and very engrossing. It took me some time to get into the book. It did not catch my attention right off. The first few chapters, which were boring to me, reviews the developments in the United States leading up to the Civil War and the impact of industrialization on the population of the country. But when the author begins to examine the relationship between the north and south on the issue of slavery, the book really moves on. It even became hard to put down at times. I became trapped in his persuasive arguments that were balanced for and against the Civil War. He looked at both sides without prejudice. I especially like how he separates pure abolitionists from those who feared slavery’s impact on the free-labor, as well as the true acknowledgement that not all abolitionists wanted the freed slaves to remain in the United States. His honesty fascinated me. McPherson takes the time to discuss the important things such as the political, social, and economic impacts on both sides of the war. I can appreciate the fact that he does not treat the reader like a dummy by spending too much time giving vast details about figures that one should already know. He only briefly mentions Lincoln, Davis, Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Jackson, by simply giving vital facts about their lives. (I was also thankful because there would have been a lot more pages to read.) In conclusion, the part of the book that captivated me most was the fact that the country was different after the war. I mean, I already knew that based on history, but the way he explains that the South represented the mainstream of the world and that the North was truly radical made me think on a different level. McPherson takes the time to explain the events that lead to the bloody conflict, its causes, and even the war itself. He also details results of the war, such as the rise of free labor capitalism in the U.S. and the shaping of the modern political parties.

=**Clara N. Billups, Brighton Middle School**=


 * Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era**

McPherson does a masterful job of orchestrating the battle action in a detailed, but flowing manner, which was a little too much for me, but probably ideal for a genuine Civil War buff; he lets you know how complicated and confusing the battles must have been from the viewpoint of the participants. I was able to get an overall picture of the flow of military action and a sense of what it must have been like. He also has a way of bringing the reader right down into the scene by concise and telling quotes from the principals and the average person there. An example is the young Confederate who replied when asked why he was fighting: "I'm fighting because you are down here." The quotes, sometimes from unguarded, private correspondence, also helped you to get to know some of the principals up close, which was one of my main reasons for reading the book. McClellan, for example, was cautious, defensive, and arrogant. Lincoln was surgically concise, but almost painfully patient. Lee was aristocratic and noble, but a gambler at heart. Grant was quiet, reserved, responsible to a fault, and fearsome in his focus. I felt like cheering when he entered the picture, and doggedly persisted until finally overcoming Lee and his wheeling, dealing, smoke-and-mirrors style of leadership. The book was illustrated to show plates of soldiers and battle scenes, as well as maps of the major battles. It also had a lot of political cartoons of the time which showed me that politics today is fairly mild compared to then. It was no-holds barred and often tastelessly racist, even in the North. I was really interested in were the attitudes and the stories behind the stories. I was really amazed at that the ineptitude of the Northern military leadership early in the war, squandering golden chances to end the war, actually promoted the end of slavery. I found that the Civil War was part of a bigger battle between the old rural ways of life (the past) versus the new industrialized way of life (the future). I was also intrigued by the plain irony of the slave-owning South feeling `tyrannized' and made into vassalage' to the North.

=**Sylvea Hollis, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute**=

__The American Journey (Ch. 14-17) & Battle Cry of Freedom__

__Chapter Summary__

The republican ideals of the new nation established some social and political boundaries for a segment of the population. Republicans limited political rights tow white male property owners. These restrictions were discriminatory towards, women, minorities, and a small population of poor white men.

African American men were permitted to vote after the abolition of slavery in some states. Slavery ended in many northern states between 1777 and 1784; however, New York and New Jersey were slow to change. The text inaccurately states that slavery was abolished in New York in the year of 1799. It was actually declared to end in 1799, but did not end completely until 1827. The decree was gradual.

The nations formation introduced a litany of “now what” type questions. The nation was established as conglomeration of states

__Book Summary/Analysis__

The graphic and extensive accounts of the civil war paint a vivid image of the war and what it might have been like to be there. The divisiveness of was is stressed as well as the calculating effort to bring resolution to the nation state.

__Classroom Implementation (Civil Rights Outreach Programming)__ -Young African American boy with new clothes and book provided by the Freedman’s Bureau416 of T//he American Journey// (TAJ) Race, Education, Press (Marketing -Black Church lithograph on page 420 of TAJ Race, Religion, Community -Casting a ballot, page 426 of TAJ Civil Rights (rights of “citizens vs. colonists), Race, Voting

=**Jerme Kirk, Hillview Elementary School**=

//Battle Cry of Freedom by:////James McPherson// (1840s-1850s and Civil War) McPherson does an excellent job of explaining not only the War in and of itself, but also the circumstances leading up to and surrounding it. For instance, he not only delves into details about the economic abilities of the Union and Confederacy to finance the war, but also spends time describing the causes which impelled Britain to withhold her recognition of the Confederacy; some of Mcpherson description of the details gets in the way of telling the Civil War story. Also, McPherson's accounts of certain battles during the war, such as Stonewall Jackson’s campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, are hard to understand and follow. Nonetheless, the author's account of most battles, the progress of the war and consequences of each battle both politically and militarily are beyond reproach. Professor McPherson a great job keeping the book alive and interesting, as opposed to allowing it to fall into a regurgitation of statistics and men that so many Civil War books have become. //Battle Cry of Freedom// remains without question the definitive one-volume history of the Civil War. James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that filled the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another me at Appomattox.