1. Why did the KKK target black education?
Ultimately, I believe that it was due to the inferiority complex that many of the Southerners had following their crushing defeat in the Civil War. Although the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) allegedly started with innocent intentions, they quickly masked their destructive, terrorist motives. Their resentment and hostility for the “Negro population” spilled over into the educational arena, especially among uneducated whites.
According to the text, schools were easy targets and many felt that teaching blacks would make them like whites, potentially giving them superiority. As a result, the uneducated whites sought to keep them down by committing heinous acts and instilling fear among the black population throughout the South. Plantation owners also sought to prohibit this, because a black in the classroom meant one less former-slave (plantation worker) in the field tending to the harvest.
2. After a lot of violence and the death tolls rising to the thousands, the federal government finally intervened with the KKK Acts of 1870 and 1871. Why did they allow the violence to happen for so long without stepping in?
It was not that they necessarily condoned the violence; the problem was that there were no laws on the books in a state like Florida that prohibited whites from actually killing blacks. As Reconstruction collapsed during President Grant’s term, Republicans proved to be no match for those Democrats’ who engaged in political violence, economic coercion, and bloody violence. According to the text, masked Klansmen employed hit-and-run guerilla warfare tactics against those Republicans and blacks who engaged in civil equality, free labor, and political democracy. It was challenging to arrest them and virtually impossible to convict, since they often held higher office. Although he KKK Acts of 1870 and 1871 marked federal intervention into the problem, it did little to curb the counterrevolutionary violence in the South with other groups perpetuating the terrorist activities.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Why did so many die?
2) What were the two major factors that lead to so many deaths in actual combat?
The combination of mechanized weaponry (i.e. rifles, gunboats, etc.) and archaic Napoleonic battle strategies condemned even the best warriors of this era to their slaughter. This dramatically changed the landscape of modern warfare for generations to come. There were just so many people in each of the battles that they would ignorantly lose countless lives and amass massive casualty counts.
1) What was the biggest cause of death in the Civil War, and why?
The most significant factor in the Civil War that led to 633,000 Americans to lose their lives, included a combination of a lack of medical facilities to treat the casualties that amassed in battle, along with a lack of understanding of the spread of germs (bacteria) in these facilities. As these soldiers lie wounded on the battlefield, some for days, they would often die from bacterial infections before, during, and/or after they were finally treated for their wounds. Ironically, disease claimed twice as many lives as combat itself.
I also believe that there were two additional factors that drove the number of deaths so high. One was the amount of hostility that was shown toward one another as these individuals fought so fervently to preserve their belief systems. Southerners believed that the right to own slaves was God-given and their livelihood was at stake; whereas, Northerners were fighting for the cause of freedom on behalf of black Americans. This rendered it one of the most brutal conflicts in American history as friend fought against friend, brother against brother, and often father against son. They also thought that this conflict would be over in a matter of weeks, but four years later it was rare to find a family unscathed by the ravages of war.
The combination of mechanized weaponry (i.e. rifles, gunboats, etc.) and archaic Napoleonic battle strategies condemned even the best warriors of this era to their slaughter. This dramatically changed the landscape of modern warfare for generations to come. There were just so many people in each of the battles that they would ignorantly lose countless lives and amass massive casualty counts.
1) What was the biggest cause of death in the Civil War, and why?
The most significant factor in the Civil War that led to 633,000 Americans to lose their lives, included a combination of a lack of medical facilities to treat the casualties that amassed in battle, along with a lack of understanding of the spread of germs (bacteria) in these facilities. As these soldiers lie wounded on the battlefield, some for days, they would often die from bacterial infections before, during, and/or after they were finally treated for their wounds. Ironically, disease claimed twice as many lives as combat itself.
I also believe that there were two additional factors that drove the number of deaths so high. One was the amount of hostility that was shown toward one another as these individuals fought so fervently to preserve their belief systems. Southerners believed that the right to own slaves was God-given and their livelihood was at stake; whereas, Northerners were fighting for the cause of freedom on behalf of black Americans. This rendered it one of the most brutal conflicts in American history as friend fought against friend, brother against brother, and often father against son. They also thought that this conflict would be over in a matter of weeks, but four years later it was rare to find a family unscathed by the ravages of war.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
1. Why were African American soldiers not given the right to fight immediately upon their enlistment into the Union army? Why were they only allowed to do manual labor?
ANSWER:
According to the text, the War Department questioned their ability to fight effectively as soldiers and white leaders were fearful of the reaction of white soldiers. So, black men were employed as manual laborers and their wives were hired to serve as laundresses or cooks. Ironically, the navy took them in to service right away.
2. Even when given the right to enlist, why did some African Americans choose not to enlist?
ANSWER:
The Militia Act of 1862 offered blacks the legal right to enlist in the army or naval services, but the problem was that the pay was so low, much lower than whites, and working black men did not want to leave their family destitute. This was a challenging dilemma for many blacks in the US, because these northern white men were dying to emancipate them from the bondage of slavery and they figured the least they could do was to serve alongside them.
3. What were the Pros and Cons of the recruitment of black soldiers in the Union?
ANSWER:
The challenges associated with blacks joining the ranks of the army or navy were many and at times, quite severe. They were often treated as inferior and punished severely for any insubordination, real or perceived. This, accompanied by the reduced pay scale, as compared to white soldiers, led them to reconsider their options. However, the benefits by far outweighed the challenges… Black soldiers were elevated in status, even though they were still considered second-class citizens. They were taught to read, write, and lead others, having a renewed confidence and strength, due to having earned full citizenship for themselves, their families, and all blacks residing in the US. Black Americans now had a sense of pride in what they had achieved for themselves and their nation. They continued to serve beyond the Civil War and into the Reconstruction Era, where they also functioned in elective office and as schoolteachers, among a multitude of other vital and influential professions.
4. What was the significance of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment? How did the Union allowing African American's in to the army change the lives of those who participated and their families? Was it positive or negative and why.
ANSWER:
They were vital to the cause of establishing liberty for all in America and without their help, in the fight and behind the scenes, there is a strong likelihood that the North would not have prevailed, as they did… Many black soldiers claimed to have felt freedom in their bones as they were transformed from slave to freeman to soldier virtually overnight. Although this was the case, the black soldiers experience in the Union army was problematic, at best. Initially, they were required to work in supportive roles and were often treated worse here than when they were in slavery. Despite such harsh conditions, the motivation to fight for the experience and preservation of their freedom is what propelled them remain involved and proactively engaged.
ANSWER:
According to the text, the War Department questioned their ability to fight effectively as soldiers and white leaders were fearful of the reaction of white soldiers. So, black men were employed as manual laborers and their wives were hired to serve as laundresses or cooks. Ironically, the navy took them in to service right away.
2. Even when given the right to enlist, why did some African Americans choose not to enlist?
ANSWER:
The Militia Act of 1862 offered blacks the legal right to enlist in the army or naval services, but the problem was that the pay was so low, much lower than whites, and working black men did not want to leave their family destitute. This was a challenging dilemma for many blacks in the US, because these northern white men were dying to emancipate them from the bondage of slavery and they figured the least they could do was to serve alongside them.
3. What were the Pros and Cons of the recruitment of black soldiers in the Union?
ANSWER:
The challenges associated with blacks joining the ranks of the army or navy were many and at times, quite severe. They were often treated as inferior and punished severely for any insubordination, real or perceived. This, accompanied by the reduced pay scale, as compared to white soldiers, led them to reconsider their options. However, the benefits by far outweighed the challenges… Black soldiers were elevated in status, even though they were still considered second-class citizens. They were taught to read, write, and lead others, having a renewed confidence and strength, due to having earned full citizenship for themselves, their families, and all blacks residing in the US. Black Americans now had a sense of pride in what they had achieved for themselves and their nation. They continued to serve beyond the Civil War and into the Reconstruction Era, where they also functioned in elective office and as schoolteachers, among a multitude of other vital and influential professions.
4. What was the significance of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment? How did the Union allowing African American's in to the army change the lives of those who participated and their families? Was it positive or negative and why.
ANSWER:
They were vital to the cause of establishing liberty for all in America and without their help, in the fight and behind the scenes, there is a strong likelihood that the North would not have prevailed, as they did… Many black soldiers claimed to have felt freedom in their bones as they were transformed from slave to freeman to soldier virtually overnight. Although this was the case, the black soldiers experience in the Union army was problematic, at best. Initially, they were required to work in supportive roles and were often treated worse here than when they were in slavery. Despite such harsh conditions, the motivation to fight for the experience and preservation of their freedom is what propelled them remain involved and proactively engaged.
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