Monday, June 21, 2010
Horrors Of War
I am constantly amazed and horrified at some of the descriptions of war that I am reading as I learn more about the Civil War. I find myself constantly questioning why people must slaughter each other to solve political problems. The death rates of these men are staggering at each new battle I read about. I particularly remember the battle of Malvern Hill with descriptions of the sounds of "agonizing cries from thousands," where their eyes view the dead and wounded of over five thousand "moving as to give the field a singular crawling effect." Where they see dead "corpses swollen to twice their original size, some of them burst asunder with the pressure of foul gasses." Where the lucky that day, smell "odors so nauseating and so deadly that in a short time we are all sickened and most of us vomiting profusely." Why are we so often sheltered from these images in modern history books? Should we teach these images of war to students? Should we show them the horrors along with the victories?
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Hi Janette .. I dont know what your age group is that you teach,but as for me, I am sold on the images backed with prime source accounts -especially from those who may have been the same age as the students you are teaching.Example: I teach 8th grade 14-15yr old students. The battle of Gettysburg has some great accounts from Tille Pierce a 15yr old girl who saw it all. The story of Jennie Wade (the only civilian casualty from the town) is also very griping and leaves great impressions . These make for great discussion about war and how freedom was bought with a price! My opinion... I believe it is our obligation to bring forewrod the good the bad and the ugly so to speak. Doug
ReplyDeleteGreat Ideas, I really like the idea of eyewitness accounts. I teach 5th grade, so I do need to be careful with the material, but I want them to see all sides as well. I'll check into these. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have wondered if they had television and instant news back then if the war would have continued. People did not know how brutal the war was at the time. Today, the military leaders need to be careful because if they are perceived as being too brutal there would be an uproar in which the political leaders would need to answer to. Pictures tell a thousand words.
ReplyDeleteYes, but do you think that the media shows us everything? Is it one sided? Do they show us too much? Also, on another note, I guess the big difference in today and the Civil War is location. Do we tend to be separated from what's going on today because the war is in another part of the world? I imagine that the horrors would be closer to home if the war were fought at home.
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