parusski
Posts: 4804
Joined: 5/8/2000 From: Jackson Tn Status: offline
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There is no doubt about my favorite period of history: 10:22 PM till 11:58 PM March 31 1966. The world took little notice though. Anyway, the American Civil War is to me the most amazing war ever fought. With brother's/father's literally joining apposing sides, Lincolns approach to slavery(leave it alone then freeing slaves ONLY in areas of rebellion), the first modern war of slaughter, those stunning victories(often Pyrrhic) of Lee and his army. Of course in the end one thing was settled-the United States would forever be a centrally controlled republic, leading to the cumbersome and loathsome federal government stumbling around today. But the main reason I find the Civil War one of the most fascinating periods in history can be gleaned from a Shelby Foote quote: "Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. I believe that firmly. It defined us. The Revolution did what it did. Our involvement in European wars, beginning with the First World War, did what it did. But the Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. And it is very necessary, if you are going to understand the American character in the twentieth century, to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-nineteenth century. It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads." Yes the civil war made us the nation we are today.
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"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."- W.T. Sherman
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