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| Non-commissioned officer's mess of Co. D, 93d New York Infantry. Photo by Timothy H. O'Sullivan |
The Civil War occupies a central place in American History (note how the Hunter College History Department uses it to divide the US History survey course). We've thoroughly discussed the factors that led to the war, and some of the strategies in fighting the war. Take a look through the Library of Congress' exhibition of Civil War Photography and discuss what the photographs contribute to your understanding of the war.
There are over 1,100 photographs- you don't have to look at all of them, but browse through different categories and read some of the related articles to learn more about the context of field photography in the 1860s.
This post will be open for comments until Friday December 12.
After browsing through different categories and read some of the related articles, I learned that photographs of the Civil War show strong details and provide a better understanding of a topic. By looking at different pictures of each categories, I was able to depict different emotions by observing the faces of the individuals in the pictures. In addition, I was also able to have a better understanding of what people's duty were during the Civil War and how they were viewed by society. The photographs contributed to my understanding of the war in a way that they allowed me to visualize how people lived during this period of time and see what they actually looked like. Sometimes, it can be difficult to learn about a topic and not being able to have a visualization of it because pictures can help to explain an idea more thoroughly and by using more details.
ReplyDeleteEXAMPLE: In this picture (http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.11422/), you can see how these two soldiers show their emotions through their facial expression in the picture. This can help me write how African American soldiers felt about this war because this picture allows you to see their feelings; by the way they are standing and through their faces.
Photographs allowed me to feel what the people felt at the time of the war. Browsing through pictures I saw miserable conditions, ruins and dead cattle, but as I moved on until the end I saw victorious soldiers marching and happy people. Pictures gave me better understanding of how organized the army was and how terrible were the consequences of the war. At the same time pictures show hope, relief and happiness in the eyes of people. Photographs provide a necessary ground for understanding such a phenomenal time period as Civil War, which crucially changed and shaped the American society.
ReplyDelete1.) After looking through the photographs, I was able to get a better sense on how the Civil War affected the lives of citizens who lived during this event in time. I first viewed the photographs of citizens living in uninhabitable environments, from the outcomes of the war. I even saw photographs of the soldiers who fought during the war as well.
ReplyDelete2.) Same with myself, although I was not alive in the 19th century, the photographs and collections on the website gave me a better comprehension on how the war affected the nation and the lives of many citizens who lived throughout the event in time.
After looking through the photographs, I really found a sense of community among the people in the photographs. It's a much different sense of community than today. The people seemed to stand together, live together, fight together, because they really believed in the purpose of "togetherness" where as today it might seem like someone is just looking for some sort of credit behind togetherness. There is also this feel of numbness within the photographs, that the period the people in these photographs were living in was very trying and hard to keep optimistic. You can feel the gray screaming out of their faces as they try to keep themselves together.
ReplyDeleteThe time and events, which we are covering in this class, can only be imagined. We can only read books and find a few primary sources like letters, documents, diaries, and manuscripts that could give us an idea of the past events like the Civil War. The American Civil War is known as the first major war to be photographed. After looking through the Library of Congress’ exhibition of Civil War Photography, I was able to see the environment at that time, lands, how people lived and what they wore. It gave me a better idea of how the Civil War put people through so many challenges and struggles and how many lives have been lost. Most of the pictures were the pictures of solders staying together, which showed unity. The photographer(s) of these pictures tried to capture more positive moments of that period. I think with these pictures, the photographer(s) wanted to make people feel and think more optimistic that no matter how hard everything were people should believe in better future and stay together.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I noticed that all the photos had in common was that most people wore very stoic expressions not a single person looked happy. Its as through the division of the nation physically hurt everyone even those if they were not wounded through battle. I got the sense that war took over most aspects of life during the time and there was no where to turn to avoid it as pictures showed battles in many different places. The sketches by artists who drew for the nation's illustrated newspapers looked as though they were dawn by directly observing the scenes pictured and the fact that they were published made the specifics of the war visible to even those who were not directly involved.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking over the photographs, the war took its toll on the soldiers. Most of the pictures show the soldiers marching, getting ready for battle or in their camps. Yet in one picture showing the Drum Corps of the 61st New York Infantry, the drummers looked happy, all of them were looking around and not at the camera. I think that the soldiers faced all types of horror during the war , but had each other to maintain their sanity.
ReplyDeleteThese photographs provide me with more of an insight and contributes to some of what I already know. Initially, while going through these pictures, the first thing that stood out to me was this sense of brotherhood among the soldiers. They all seem united and not simply because they are on the same army, but the loved shared between them can be seen in the photos. I also noticed that the battle left many places in total ruins because in a lot of the images, roads, houses, and many other things were destroyed. There were also countless deaths and the bodies were just out in the open. I also noticed that both sides had many ditches and I am assuming because it allowed the soldiers to hide and was a war strategy. Overall, the photos showed me how the soldiers fought for each other and kept this sense of brotherhood throughout the war and that is a respectable trait.
ReplyDeleteLooking through the photographs I get a sense of how peoples lives were impacted by the war. A total destruction seems to happen at that time in terms of thousands of people being killed, villages and houses being destroyed, a country being divided, and most importantly the spiritual well-being of all those who fought during the war. Even tough they were united as a team and shared the same interests and goals,we can see the anguish they felt; it is very well reflected in these photographs; nobody smiles or looks optimistic. Essentially they were fighting against their own people from the same nation, and not against a foreign enemy. Furthermore, these photographs partially reflect the consequences of the war because these are only few moments captured by the camera, the reality could have been much worse.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the soldiers of the war were very united and how they even had time to play some music and play cards in a time like this. It is also important to notice how religion was part of the activities the soldiers did during the war. They had time to practice their religion and keep on their faith during a time so hard like the Civil War. I also noticed how devastated was the country after the war, the dead bodies and how the other soldiers were picking the bodies was sad. The country had many parts that looked so destroyed and ruined by the war. This shows me that the Civil was was a time in which the country suffered many devastating moments.
ReplyDeleteThe photographs contributed a great deal to my understanding of the Civil War because they provided an outlook of the living conditions of the people, how the soldiers fought on the battlefield, and the general state of America during and after the war was fought. It was really interesting to look through these photographs because the nineteenth century was a completely different era and it shows how much society has evolved and flourished. However, they also showed a devastating and terrifying time because the soldiers had to endure unstable and unsanitary conditions, along with an immense amount of death and destruction.
ReplyDeleteThe photographs conveyed what is was like to be in the American Civil War. The faces of the soldiers and the scenes of a battle's aftermath show the consequences of war. Text alone does not convey the horrors the soldiers experienced. Perhaps even photographs only illustrate a portion of the terrifying experiences undergone. Nevertheless, they serve as a reminder to avoid repeating the mistakes of history and the price of war.
ReplyDeleteThe photographs convey a visual of what it was like during the Civil War time period. The emotions from the persons photographed provide a general mood and give personality to the war and various struggles and divide given many controversial topics. The photographs also give a sense of authenticity and awareness with pictures shown of soldiers and African Americans at the time of war.
ReplyDeleteAfter what we had discussed in class and looking through the pictures I felt that the most significant factor that led to the Civil War revolved around slavery and the black population. Pre-Civil War there were many debates and arguments the slaves position in America. Some believed that blacks were completely inferior and that they needed them as slaves so their field could prosper. On the other hand, some thought it was ridiculous that slavery existed in a country that emphasized equality and believed that they needed to be treated as equals. While others fell in between those two spectrum. In the pictures you can see the progression of blacks rights such the picture where a black person is being educated. Beforehand, blacks could not receive education. Also, in other pictures you can see blacks in uniform ready to battle. Many of the blacks during this time wanted more rights and were willing to fight for it. In the end, they were a huge part of the war, both in terms of what led to it as well as during the war.
ReplyDeleteEmmanuel Maldonado: What I noted from most of the photos was that even though a war was being fought the willingness to fight for something they believed in was very much present .Although these soldiers knew that they would probably not live to see the impact of the wars they fought for and believed in, They recognized that it was all for the future generations of this country. The men seem proud and fearless. Nothing seemed to stop them. Their honor can not be questioned. War can be a dark thing with a bridge outcome.
ReplyDeleteThese photographs provide a very real insight into the war through the lives of those who had actually experienced it. For instance, certain elements of the soldier's lives are revealed like the role of religion in keep up the soldier's morale. Their living conditions are also well documented and may provide a better understanding to why the war ended as it did. It is also interesting to note how society has evolved in both technology and as a whole.
ReplyDeleteWith photography still in its early developmental stage, the Civil War was the first war to be documented. These photographs provided an inside look of the front to the citizens at home and portrayed the severity of the war. Many soldiers can be seen with stoic looks on their faces but keep in mind that photographs at the time also took long to be achieved and so many people opted for a stoic face instead of smiling. The photographs also provide an intense look into the horrors of war, but it also cast a glimpse into the future as learning, and unity can be seen in several of the photographs.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy looking at historical photographs. The civil war photographs are just some of my favorites to look at. These pictures show another world except its the same world 150 years earlier. They show different aspects of the war. They show the decent hours of war where people are sitting around eating or having meetings (generals, commanders etc) and then they have the absolute terrible times, usually after battles. The pictures also show the different kind of people and you can almost feel their emotion over the war. They also show the different landscapes and how they looked 150 years ago. You can even see the different technology that they had. Needless to say photographs of the Civil War give people a different perspective of the destruction of the war. Rather then just reading about it you can physically see it.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures at the Library of Congress’ exhibition of Civil War Photography portray the stories and the emotions of the Civil War. These images give me more awareness of what the conditions and division among the North and South looked like. These pictures also gave me a better visual of the soldiers, for example what they wore, where they slept, weapons, etc… In addition to this the pictures provides the emotions of the people in the pictures, none of them are smiling. They had very stressed serious faces and did not seem like they were having the best time. One photograph shows a family of five, with only a small tent behind them to live in. I did not realize the living conditions during the war were this poor. Also another picture showed how crowded the villages were, there were a bunch of people in small spaces, all crowded next to each other. These were two factors about the war that I did not realize until I visually saw it. The pictures in the exhibition also represent the sad struggles and destruction of the war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above posts that through these photographs I can tell how the solider's lives were affected. The living conditions for these soldiers were definitely tough as were their lives after the war. They look miserable, demoralized and worn out. This reminds me of why throughout history, so many wanted to avoid war at al costs.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking through a bunch of these pictures (some of which I've seen in past American history classes, which I thought was really cool), It is clear how rugged and sometimes very difficult life during the civil war could be. Camps for wounded were extremely crowded and most likely very smelly and nauseating considering the diseased and dying all around. Regardless of the bad conditions, another thing that is clear is how proud the Americans in the photographs are.
ReplyDeleteEven in deplorable conditions, soldiers, nurses, doctors, men, women, children, generals, everybody would gather around and take a photograph. This is really telling of the attitudes of people during this hard time. Even if one side (North or South) had to be wrong, they each believed in what they were fighting for and immortalized themselves and their ideas in the photographs they posed for. I think my favorite photo I saw was of a group of 15 men all posing around an artillery battery. They are all facing towards where the cannon is facing, even though there is no battle going on. There was just something powerful about this photograph, and I really enjoyed seeing it, it was a new one too.
After looking at the pictures from the exhibition from the Civil War, i can see that the Civil War brought about a change of environment due to the destruction of the land. The land, once full and luscious now seems barren and broken down. Pictures of the soldiers huddling together to stay warm in one single tent is devastating. The exhausted look on their faces seem to tell me that they're tired of fighting, but they continue to march forward because they truly believe that what they're fighting for is worth all the pain. Although they lack the proper necessities, the soldiers do not seem to mind and are united together to fight for a cause they are passionate about.
ReplyDeleteThese pictures give an in depth look into the lives of the soldiers during the American Civil War. The living condition for the soldiers was very harsh yet they braved out the war any way. On top of the bad conditions they faced losses and injuries just to support their cause. Another significance of these photos is the fact that this was new technology for the time and was used a lot during the civil war. This was used as a way to capture moments in history, and now we have those pictures to show what it was really like in the past.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking through all the images from the Civil War, it is evident that the soldiers were miserable and really affected by the evils and stress that the war brought to their lives. The conditions that they were living in were horrible and yet they also seemed to be have this look of vigor in their faces. These images also help to depict the strong sense of unity and nationalism. The fact that these soldiers would live and fight under such vile conditions for their country is a beautiful thing. So instead of just viewing this pictures with sympathy, I also like to view them with admirable pride.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the pictures, I noticed that the majority of them are either portraits. In case of field photography majority of the photographs show the soldiers sitting around some form of camp. What I did not see more of are the dead bodies. The hundreds and thousands of horrific dead and mutilated corpses of men that must have been commonplace are rarely shown in the pictures. In a way the portraits of those men are a more dignified way of remembering them. From the pictures I was able to deduce that the military force of that time was significantly complex and developed, with reconnaissance, engineers, infantry, all working together as a unified fighting force. This is significantly improved compared to the Revolutionary War.
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