The American Civil War

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this.  I am going to shift gears again and I am very nervous about doing this documentary.  This is my reminder that I am doing these documentaries so your teachers do not have to spend time watching them do your prep work.  This is a documentary on the Civil War and it is an older documentary.  The run time for this documentary is 55:40 and it looks like it is called The American Civil War.

There is a quick discussion on the lead-up to the Civil War.  Over the years there were many brutal incidents over the issue of slavery.  There were more and more conflicts and these conflicts lead up to the 1860 Presidential Election.  Which way would this election go?  The Democratic party was divided reflecting the mood of the country.  There were three candidates It would go in the direction of a new political party, the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln.  He was careful about mentions of slavery and believed that the Union should be preserved.  In the South, his name did not appear on the ballot.  Despite this, he would win the election.   This election would finally set off the Civil War.

Then there is a discussion on what the South had and how ill-prepared the South was for war.  There was very little industry.  There was no navy.  Cotton was king and they even refused to send Cotton to Europe to force European leaders to come to their side.  However, this would prevent them from raising funds in the future to support the war effort.  When the blockade was set, the South was unable to ship cotton overseas to raise money for the war.  The South did have a strong military tradition and many men went to these military academies.  The north in contrast had a great deal of industry and a large population.

At the start of the war, many men enthusiastically signed up to fight, believing that the war would end quickly.  Fort Sumter had been attacked and eventually, the North would surrender the fort.  There were no casualties, which would be a stark comparison to how many soldiers would be lost in the Civil War.  Both Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln would issue calls for arms.  The soldiers were farmers, professionals, and actors, and had come from a variety of backgrounds.  They expected the war to get over quickly, however, they could not foresee the bloodbath that was to happen.

War had changed in the years since the Mexican-American War a mere twelve years before the Civil War.  Weapons had changed.  Rifles could fire a greater distance.  Technology had changed.  Tactics would have to change because of technology.  Even with all the changes, the men were thrilled to get to experience the battle for the first time.  They were afraid that the war would end before they arrived on the battlefield.

Then there was an interesting section on how confusion reigned over the first battles of the Civil War.  Southern Soldiers could be found in blue uniforms instead of grey.  The flags of both sides looked very similar to each other in the smoke of battle.  After the Battle of Bull Run, these things would have to change and be standardized.  It was at this battle that both sides realized that the war was going to be longer than people would think.  So what would happen in the Civil War?   To learn more about the Civil War watch the rest of this documentary.

Yeah, this documentary really shows its age and I can picture popping in a VCR tape with this documentary on it.  It even says at the start that this was disk one.  I had low expectations for this documentary because of the look of it.  It actually was not a bad documentary, it kept moving along, the narration was good, and it followed a definite outline.  I went into this documentary thinking I would not recommend it.  However, I have changed my mind and would recommend this documentary for a history class because it was an excellent primer on the Civil War.  It would also be good for research purposes.