1. Military Series: BATTLE CRY... Feb. 13th ~ Feb. 19th ~~ Editor's Introduction, Prologue, and Chapter ONE (xvii-46); No Spoilers Please

[Debye]

Hi everyone,

I'm popping in to say HI and that I will be participating. I'm in the last week of my semester and have 2 papers due by Sunday. After that I will post regurlary!
Thanks,
Debye

[Bryan]

Debye wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm popping in to say HI and that I will be participating."

Welcome, Debye, take it at your own pace, no worries.

[Karolyn]

Alright, finally finished with Chapter 1 and am working through the posts. I am reading on my iPad and wish I had the on page footnotes. When they are at the end I tend not to read them and it always takes away from the book... But it's the price I pay for having five books in progress on one light and tiny device.

I have often wondered about the impact on Civil War strategy caused by so many generals having served and/or attended West Point together. I've read some on the war, but not much on stratify. Given the discussion here about the generals that served in the Mexican War together, I am looking forward to learning how their knowledge of each other helped or hurt their campaigns.

As for Chapter 1, there was a lot of info. It really highlighted how much change had occurred in the years leading up to the war. And with change comes conflict. I had read many of the pieces here or there, but never seen the puzzle put together so well in one coherent chapter.

I'm looking forward to the discussions... Even when I might be a bit tardy!

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

That is OK Karolyn - just keep up at your own pace.

[Bryan]

No problem, Karolyn. People do get a little more frantic when there is a lot of change. No doubt we see a lot of it during this time.

[Mary Ellen]

Great discussion!
RE: literacy and education. On pp 19-20 (paperback edition) McPherson cites these statistics:
In New England, adult literacy at 95%, and 3/4 of children 5-19 were enrolled in school for 6 months a year.
In the South, 80% literacy among white adults, and 1/3 of white children enrolled in school for 3 months a year.
The US had a 90% literacy rate overall, behind only Sweden and Denmark. Pretty remarkable.
I can't help but wonder if those rates declined in the latter half of the century, as more immigrants from Southern & Eastern Europe entered the country, bringing the adult literacy rate down, and as factories pulled in more & more child labor.

I am not surprised that the number of slaves declined in the rest of the Western hemisphere after the slave trade ended. As mentioned in a few posts, the work was brutal and mortality rates, in Brazil for example, exceeded those in the US. (For an odd reason, that factoid has stayed with me from my college days, a course on Latin American history!)

[Bryan]

Good question, Mary Ellen, it is possible there was a decline, although I think public schools began to grow, too. It is remarkable stat about literacy, which means many read newspapers and pamphlets, trying to educate themselves in the political world.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

So true Nancy; we have come so far but we are still in some ways living in the past.

[Bryan]

Nancy wrote: "Getting a general feeling for USA 1800-1860. Growth due to beter transportation, telegraph, education, banking and Yankee ingenuity! From CT so I know first hand Hartford Colt revolvers and Bridgep..."

Thanks for your comments, Nancy, and doing great.

There are some universal themes going on here, indeed.

[Ricky]

Checked out the book last night and read to the end of the first chapter. Wow was that a lot of great, and insightful information.

One of the highlights I thought was on pages 27-28 and the discussion of capitalism and the laborer, how the political parties looked at them, and how wealth was created.

Interesting how little has changed in the thoughts and rationale since 1854.

by

[Bryan]

Welcome Ricky. DOn't forget to add author link:

James M. McPherson