Reflection paragraph on process

Most of my sources I used in this project were online websites and articles. I wasn't very sure whether the websites were reliable because I was researching this project...I didn't know anything about it. I find Wikipedia most helpful because it has a lot of different information about almost everything and everyone. Wikipedia was known before for it's unreliability, but is now fixed where only expert and known information can be entered. Some websites I visited were very opinionated and even racist, so it was hard to get true information from them.

Works Cited

Harriet Beecher Stowe. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2012, from The Literature Network: http://www.online-literature.com/stowe/

The Civil War. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2012, from Shmoop: http://www.shmoop.com/civil-war/economy.html

Underground Railroad. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2012, from United States History: www.u-s-history.com/pages/h481.html

Walt Whitman. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman

Reflection on process

Researching on information about your country's past was always, to me, interesting. The most difficult part of this project was finding reliable sources to get my information from. I enjoyed every part of this research blog. Like I said, history is always interesting to me, and if I could change anything about it, I would extend the time I could research about this certain time period.

Reflection Paragraph on findings

I started this research project with very many questions. I learned about how the economy was effected, when the slaves were freed, and Lincoln's assasination. The North had the upper-hand in the war because of its resources and financial stability. Whereas, the South didn't even have interconnected railroads to transport guns, ammunition, and food to their soldiers across long distances. The most surprising part of information about this research topic was that Southern states seceeded from the U.S. I never even thought that was possible. Pretty much all of my questions have been answered but I am content with all of the information I found.

Finding Paragraph #3

The economy during the Civil War was not a contest between equals. During this time period, the South didn't have any factories to produce guns or ammunition, and the railroads were small and not interconnected, so it was hard to move weapons and food to mean quickly and over long distances. Agriculture was a big "money-maker" in the South. Farmers focused mainly on cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, but didn't produce to feed the whole Southern population. "The North, on the other hand, had enough food and enough factories to make weapons for all of its soldiers. It also had an extensive rail network that could transport men and weapons rapidly and cheaply. The differences in manpower and industrial capacity were so profound that the fact that the South almost won the war was a shock to observers all over the world." In reality, there was no way that the South could have defeated the North because the North had all the materials and all the financial advantages. Since most of the South's profit came from cotton, the first thing that the Union did was blockade the southern ports. After Louisiana was captured, the amount of cotton exported to England stopped and so did the South's profit. This was something the North desperately needed to defeat the South (The Civil War).

Finding Paragraph #2

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in the election of 1860, and inaguarated in 1861, several Southern states secedeeded from the United States in fear of Lincoln abolishing slavery." In 1834, the National Anti-Slavery Society organized the Underground Railroad, which compromised the combined efforts of both white and black abolitionists to aid some 100,000 enslaved persons to find their way to freedom." The Underground Railroad was not a tunnel, nor a railroad, but it was an escape network with government-rebelling people helping slaves escape. This escape network spanned across 29 states, including Canada, Mexico, and the Carribean. In 1838, with black abolitionist Robert Purvis in charge, the underground railroad became formally organized. Many slaves escaped the Confederate South, but others had to use highly organized systems. Harriet Tubman is one of the most widely-known abolitionists. She helped many escape and even returned to aid others. In 1850,  the Fugitive Slave Act allowed slave owners to go recapture escaped slaves with the help of  U.S. Marshals. That same year, the Compromise of 1850 was created and it stated that anyone who assisted with slaves escaping could be fined and/or imprisoned. Finally, in 1863, the Emancipation Proclomation gave light to the slaves' freedom. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the 13th Amendment of the Constitution abolished slavery permanently(Underground Railroad).

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Finding Paragraph #1

Every era of literature has their authors that "stick out," or are very well-known from the rest. All over the world, their works are considered master pieces. The Civil War era was known for famous writers, for example, Walt Whitman who wrote Beat! Beat! Drums! which was a patriotic rally call for the North and wrote in the preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. He believed that the poet and society had a symbiotic relationship (Walt Whitman). Harriet Beecher Stowe was also another well-known writer of this particular time period. She wrote literature dealing with the sensitive issue of slavery. Her works included Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Mayflower (Harriet Beecher Stowe). There are numerous others who wrote during this time period, but were more focused on yearning for the past than for their current lifestyle, which is now considered important to our country's history.

Quote, Paraphrase, and Citation #5

"The election of Lincoln in November 1860 was the final trigger for secession. Efforts at compromise, including the "Corwin Amendment" and the "Crittenden Compromise", failed. Southern leaders feared that Lincoln would stop the expansion of slavery and put it on a course toward extinction. The slave states, which had already become a minority in the House of Representatives, were now facing a future as a perpetual minority in the Senate and Electoral College against an increasingly powerful North. Before Lincoln took office in March 1861, seven slave states had declared their secession and joined to form the Confederacy."

When Lincoln was elected in November of 1860, it triggered many southern states to seceed. Southerners feared that Lincoln would stop the expansion of the slave states. The Southern states feared the powerful North. In March of 1861, seven states seceeded and formed the Confederacy.

American Civil War. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Quote, Paraphrase, and Citation #4

"The slavery issue addressed not only the well-being of the slaves (although abolitionists raised the issue) but also the question of whether slavery was an anachronistic evil that was incompatible with American values or a profitable economic system protected by the Constitution. All sides agreed slavery exhausted the land and had to find new lands to survive. The strategy of the anti-slavery forces was to stop the expansion and thus put slavery on a path to gradual extinction."

The issue of slavery was not only addressed because of how the slaves were being treated, but because of the Constitution. Some believed that slavery was against American values just because some people wanted an economic profit.

American Civil War. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Graph/Chart/Map and Citation

This map shows the progress of secession in the United States. Secession began before and after the fall of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The states that secedeeded were known as the Confederate states. The states that didn't seceed were known as the Union states.

Wordle #2

Quote, Paraphrase and Citation #3

"One of the anomalies of the American literary imagination has been its inability—in spite of the vast amount of ink consumed in the effort—to derive a major poem, novel, or play from the central crisis in the national existence. This failure seems even more curious because one of the prominent characteristics of the southern literary mind, at least of the white literary mind, has been the compulsive remembrance of the Civil War. But the southern writer—and this would appear to be a primary reason for the want of a southern War and Peace—has been less concerned to reconstruct the actual time of the struggle than to recount the consequent loss of the antebellum southern culture and, in the response to this loss, the creation of a postbellum culture of survival."

This quote is more of a negative quote towards the literature during the Civil War. Authors were more interested in writing about how great the past used to be than to document what is really going on, which is a major part of America's history.

Simpson, L. P. (n.d.). Civil War in Literature. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from Documenting the American South: http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/civilwar.html

Photo, Caption, and Citation #3

General Robert E. Lee surrendered in the home of Wilmer Mclean in the village of Appomattox Courthouse after a two and one-half hour meeting between him and Mclean. The "bloodiest war in history" ended on April 9, 1865.
URL: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=house+where+general+lee+surrendered&view=detail&id=C91739C744160B38B3E5187E3FACA136D0D48A6D&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR&adlt=strict

Quote, Paraphrase, and Citation #2

"Slavery was of course the root of the war. But from the nation's founding (when the process of gradual emancipation began in the North) until 1850, the North and South agreed on a series of compromises that prevented the powder keg of slavery from exploding. The first compromise followed the crisis in 1819 over Missouri entering the Union as a slave state, which erupted "like a firebell in the night," as Thomas Jefferson put it (Life and Selected Writings, p. 698). It was the first major crisis over slavery, and it shattered a tacit agreement between the two regions that had been in place since the Constitution."

Slavery was one of the main reasons that Civil War broke out. There was many compromises between the North and the South that prevented Civil War from breaking out. The first compromise ever made was after a crisis in 1819 when Missouri entered the Unionh as a slave state. It was the first major crisis over slavery. 

Civil War. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2012, from Enotes: http://www.enotes.com/civil-war-67481-reference/civil-war

Photo, Caption, and Citation #2

John J. Cramer wrote about the activities of President Abraham Lincoln when the Confederate General Jubal Early attacked Washington. This was the only time a U.S. president has been fired at by enemies.



Lincoln under Enemy Fire: the Complete Account of His Experiences during Early's Attack on Washington. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, [1948].
URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/lincolnrentner/rentner.html

Quote, paraphrase, and citation #1

Quote: "The Civil War was the greatest transforming event in American culture. Its memories continue to haunt and inspire people, and it is impossible to imagine what the United States would look like today had it never happened. With some 620,000 deaths, more Americans died in the conflict than in all other wars combined until Vietnam. More than 10 percent of the population was directly involved, and almost every American had a close friend or family member who was killed or maimed in the war."

Paraphrase: The Civil War changed the lives of many Americans. Each American had atleast one family member involved in the war. More than 500,000 Americans, (North and South) died fighting in the war.

Citation:

Civil War. (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2012, from Enotes: http://www.enotes.com/civil-war-67481-reference/civil-war

Photo, caption, and citation #1

 

The photo above is a soldier from the Union and a soldier from the Confederates. This picture mainly represents the who the whole war was against. This picture summarizes the whole meaning of the war. By looking at it, you can see that the Confederates withdrawn from the U.S.A.

URL: http://www.soldierstudies.org/index.php?action=webquest_1

My Reflection

At this point in my research project, I have found my sources for information. If I was writing a regular research paper, I think i'd be ready to write my paper. Everything, at this point, is going okay as far as finding my sources, and learning information about my topic. What would help me the most at this point is if technology would speed up a little and not be so slow. Finding research isn't the problem. How technology works is the primary issue.

Wordle #1

Preliminary links and descriptions

http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/civilwar.html

This web page was created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to inform readers about the specific writers during the Civil War. It also lists the writers different works and the types of their works (Romance, fiction, non-fiction, etc.)

http://www.enotes.com/civil-war-67481-reference/civil-war

This website was created by Enotes but had several different sources, which are listed on the site. It explains the main situations that lead up to the war,( Missouri Compromise, slavery, the election of Abraham Lincoln, etc.) and the different battles of the Civil War.




This webpage was created by Wikipedia. This page is a short bipgraphy of Walt Witman, one of America's most-known authors during the Civil War period, and his many works.
http://www.civilwarliterature.com/

This webpage lists the different types of literature and links to those types of literature. This page helps me to better understand and reads the different types of literature during this time period.

http://civilwarlit.harpweek.com/

This website allows you to to read about different parts of literature during the Civil War such as the different battles, aspects of military life, etc. This page, so far, has been the most helpful to me during my research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

This webpage focuses mostly on the Civil War. This page gives no information on Civil War Literature but focuses mainly on the history of the war and its many battles that lead up to the Emancipation Proclomation.

What I want to know about my topic

When I chose my topic, i had a little bit of knowledge about the Civil War era and it's aftermath. What I don't know is about the literature during this time period. When asked about this topic, my main question was, "How was literature used during the Civil War and how did it change after the war ended?" This main question challenged me to think deeper about this topic, which brought about a few more in-depth questions.

-Who were the well-known writers of this time period, and what were their works of literature?
-How did the value of literature change after the war?
-How did abolitionists use the Underground Railroad to get slaves to the North?
-How did writers go about publishing their works of literature?
-How was the economy affected by the Civil War?

What I already know about my topic

Middle school social studies is when and where I learned about the Civil War. The Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, was a southern-state response to the election of Abraham Lincoln. Eleven southern states seceded from the United States. The other 25 states decided to follow the government. This war was mainly fought for the abolishment of slavery in the South and lasted about four years (1861-1865.) The South surrendered and slavery was then abolished.

The story behind my topic choice

I remember thinking to myself when I started middle school, "Boy, the only class I'm ever gonna pass is social studies!" Well, to my surprise, that was the only class I made an "A" in. We learned about a variety of civilizations, wars, and the functions of different types of governments. Between learning about the Egyptian civilizations to visiting museums about World War I, my interest in the Civil War era became stronger. This particular era "stuck out" to me because it was a war between the North (The Union) and the South (The Confederates.) Being that I was raised in the South, seeing the Confederate flags, and all the debates about them being shown in public, makes me wonder about the story behind it. After middle school, I obtained a lot of knowledge about the Civil War Era and it's aftermath. I chose this specific topic to further my knowledge about this time period.