Battle Cry - finally done!

Getting through this book has been quite the process, but I finally made it!  I thought it was so interesting that  near the end the confederacy chose to use blacks as soldiers.  Though they never actually fought, it was still a surprise to me.  I never would have thought that blacks would have wanted to fight for their masters.  I'm sure some didn't want to, but some did.  This was just one more thing to show me there were so many sides to the war that I'd never considered before.  It wasn't just about slavery.  There were so many politics involved.  Many in the confederacy didn't own slaves, and many in the union didn't want to abolish slavery.
I was also surprised that Lee didn't surrender sooner when it seemed all hope was lost.  What a tragedy this war was!  I can't really even comprehend the number of casualties.  I was impressed to read of many of the class act leaders from the north and how they treated the southern soldiers after the surrender.  I sure learned a lot from this book!

BCOF

I found it interesting to read about the advances in ships and weapons. I didn't know the Confederate had used mines. The use of the rifle and and how it took awhile for battle tactics to change to the improved technology.
The part about women and helping with bandages and nursing was good and I will use the information in class next year. I always thought it wasn't fair that women could not go into the medical field, but when I read that they felt they were saving them from the terrible sights that you see when people are wounded I grew to understand that wasn't the case. As women performed their duties the respect they earned was great. I think they were able to help save lives with their efforts on and off the battle field. I was not aware that there were hospital trains and ships during the Civil War.

BCOF

I was in a class last month and the Professor said that 11 states seceded from the Union but in Texas they say 13 states seceded. On their monument in Texas to the Confederacy, they include Missouri and Kentucky. He wasn't sure why they were included. As I read on pg 293 about "Claiborne Jackson calling the pro-southern legislature into sesseion" and on November 3, 1861 they enacted an ordinance of session. Then the Confederacy admitted Missouri as the 12 Confederate state. This explained to me why Missouri was on the monument.
The reading on pg 297 explained Kentucky. While the Kentucky legistator was solid union, Gov. Magoffin and Sen. Breckinridge and others wanted to go with the Confederate. They held a convention and also passed a ordinance of secession and formed a provisional government that the Confederate admitted as the 13th Confederate State.
Thus the monument in Texas was correct, there were 13 states of the Confederacy however the Union did not recognize them and are considered part of the Union.

BCOF

I didn't realize that southerners wanted to annex Cuba to extend Manifest Destiny. I thought Manifest Destiny was just to expand to the west. A question I had was, Why did the Polk go to war against Mexico to expand west, but not with Britan to expand north? Was it because he saw Mexico had more land for the taking and was less of a threat?
The other thing that I didn't know was that transporting slaves through free territory or states was an issue.

Battle Cry of Freedom - and pirates!

In chapter 10 of Battle Cry of Freedom, it talks about the Confederacy's Naval strategies.  Where have I been?  I really hadn't thought much about the war being fought on sea.  I knew part of Winfield Scott's Anaconda plan was for the Union to cut off the Confederacy's southern ports, but I'd never really thought the Navy played much of a role in the Civil War.  And then we bring pirates into it?!?  I'm sure my students would be so interested to learn that President Lincoln planned to hang certain members of the Confederacy for acts of piracy!  I feel like this is just one more reason my kids will be excited to learn about the Civil War!

Battle Cry of Freedom

Once again, learning new things has made me more aware than ever that I don't know very much! I'm amazed by how much information is presented in this book, almost all of which I never knew. Like others have mentioned, I always thought the ultimate cause of the the Civil War was slavery. While this was obviously a big deal, this book is helping me understand that so many factors went into this conflict. There was so much tension in our country at the time. So much more than I ever realized! I'm sure I have contributed to student misconception that the only thing the war was fought over was slavery. I'll have to be sure to fix that for next year!