Post#4: Civil War Reenactments and the Teaching of History
On April 12, 1861, Southern slave states attacked a federal military installation at Fort Sumter in South California. The most complex war in American history was commenced that day. The war ended in 1865 with a victory for the North. About hundred years later, Civil War reenactment began to remember the war. It was an effort to recreate event related to the Civil War. Reenactments are serious about teaching people about the events and the consequences of the Civil War, and it tells that Americans want to preserve the memory of the most terrible conflict in our history.
The first American Civil War reenactment website was the American Civil War Society. The goal of the ACWS is “to educate the public through as many diversified perspectives as were the issues back in 1861 - 1865.” [1] They fulfill their objective by offering various activities related to the Civil War to the public. They seem to reenact politics such as Southern States Right and vulnerable pages of American history. This group portrays not only battles, but also the civilian lifestyles by providing many other activities other than just battles such as a fashion show, the field hospital, the Civil War band, and so on. They have researched and developed correct uniforms, weapons, civilian attire, and living history encampments to portray the Civil War accurately. The society sees reenactments as a means of informing Americans about the military, political, and social that were linked with the causes, events, and the aftermath of the Civil War. The society is a non-profit organization based in California. They seem successful because many people have participated in the reenactment activities, and those who have participated would learn about the Civil War.
Secondly, the next Civil War reenactment website was the 54th Mass Volunteer Infantry Company. This company is an African-American reenactment unit while the other two groups are living history organizations. This is a big difference from the other two groups. On the top of its web page, the company clearly states that “they are portraying the experience of African American soldiers in South California.” [2] They also introduce their events and activities, and their activities are all associated with African-American soldiers. Moreover, their web page gives historical information on African-American in the Civil War. This is the evidence that they only reenact African-American soldiers. The main objective of the 54th Mass is teaching the public about the Civil War and the preservation of the memory of African-American soldiers. They accomplish their goal by going in to schools, colleges, or youth groups and educating them. The company concentrates upon presenting the history of the Civil War as it occurred in South Carolina.
Finally, the third Civil War reenactment website to be assessed was the National Civil War Association. The perspective from the National Civil War Association reenacts is very similar to other two groups that previously mentioned. Their goal is to educate the public about the event and people of the Civil War by presenting living history in. National Civil War Association is committed to teaching history through reenactments, classroom visits, and lectures. Another feature that it has in common with the other two groups that it is a non-profit organization. The National Civil War Association likes to stage its events all over the US although it is based in Northern California. Schools can even arrange for the National Civil War Association to visit them by booking online. This society prides its self upon authenticity of its reenactment in terms of events depicted and the accuracy of uniforms and weapons used in its displays. [3]
The three groups take reenactment more seriously than just dressing up as soldiers of that conflict, and going camping in a few tents. The reenactment groups seek to be as historically accurate as possible. Even though their reenactment well researched as possible, they sometimes criticized for their sentimentalized historical portrait. However, the most significant thing about the reenactment is that it educates the public and helps to preserve the memory of the Civil War. They accomplish their goal by inviting people to reenactment events and visiting schools. As people get involved or watch the Civil War related events, people can understand better our history. People can learn the way soldiers lived and the way they fought. Moreover, people can feel soldiers’ hopes, dreams, loves, and hardships throughout portraying the events that is related to Civil War. Therefore, reenactments certainly have a potential role in teaching history in livelier way than merely reading textbooks in a classroom.
[1]www.acws.net
[2]http://www.awod.com/cwchas/54ma.html
[3]www.ncwa.org
March 6th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
First of all, I like how you chose to present the goals of each organization’s websites you visited. The reenactment websites that I visited share many of the goals that yours did, such as to educate and to preserve the memory of the Civil War. I found it interesting that one of your reenactments was depicted from the perspective of African Americans during Civil War time period. I also found it unique of the National Civil War Association to visit schools online. Before I read your post, I did not know that they did this. I think that this is a good concept, but would not be as effective as an in-person visit for obvious reasons.
I think it would have been useful to include examples of how these groups inform people about the social, political, and military aspects that are tied to the Civil War. Also, in addition to simply stating that these groups try to make their reenactments as accurate as possible, it would have made your post stronger if you compared some examples of the reenactment sets or materials with what is actually documented in history. Overall, I think that your post was very strong and well composed.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
A good read and a good post. I liked how you picked three Civil War reenactment websites and listed their individual goals. Even though the basically had the same goals, they accomplished them through different points of view. I had no idea that there was a group that did their reenactment in the perspective of African-American soldiers. You really emphasized that the groups were non-profit organizations and they probably used any donations to use the right uniforms and weapons. I also didn’t know that they used their website in order to recruit knew members so that they can have other people join their organization and be a part of history. I liked how you used the internet as a way that the organizations can grow and attract new viewers. I guess it’s working since you found it.
It really couldn’t find anything wrong with this post. If anything, I would have added more information about the organizations themselves. Such as how long ago they began or when and where they perform these reenactments.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I agree that civil war reinactments are a good way of teaching people about the way battles were fought during the civil war. I am not so sure civil war reinactments do so much to teach people about the polotics of the time, i think it is more to teach people about how the war was fought.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Most of the groups that I found had the same basis for their reenactments as the groups you found. All were really just trying to teach people and to make it a much better learning experience. It is like you said, it is much “livelier” than just sitting in a classroom being lectured or reading it by yourself. It definitely is much better. I also thought it was interesting how you said it reaches more of the Internet based audience. I hadn’t actually thought about it in that way.
I thought that your post was very informative and well written. The way you explained everything and spent time going over every detail that you found was awesome. Your whole post was easy to follow and made understanding it very easy. It was really clear. Honestly, it is hard for me to find something wrong with it. Though if anything, I think you could have given some examples of the types of shows that the groups put on. Other than that, really good!
March 7th, 2007 at 7:31 am
I thought it was insiteful that you picked the three sites apart and included direct quotes in your post. I hadn’t previously thought about reenactments entirely from the view of African Americans but I like the concept and would be interested in seeing one for myself. Also, I had never realized that schools could have reenactments visit, that is really cool I wish a school I had been to while I was younger had done that. From what I have seen there is a lack or depth in education concerning wars and the realities surrounding them, I think that having reeanctors visit school would be a good way to start fixing this obvious problem.
Your post seemed to be well thought out and organized, I found it to be an interesting read and I would not complain about anything outright.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:41 am
I really liked this post. I liked how you presented a bunch of different reenactments and then you talked about them and described what the event was and what the goals of each reenactment was. It was very informative and made me realize how important sometimes these reenactments can be to History and the hard work and dedication these people put in to make sure everything is accurate as possible. So It was very good to see you point this stuff out.
To be truthful it is hard for me to find a problem with your post. I’m trying to find something and all I can come up with is maybe talk about what battle is being reenacted and maybe go into some detail about that. Other then that it was a nice read.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
This was a very well done post. You gave examples of different activities of the groups and some differences in the groups themselves such as the Mass. 54th. Very informative. Great job.
March 7th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I think you did a great job in your post. Just from a grammatical point of view, you did a great job transitioning into the paragraphs. Also, citing the websites directly in your blog was good because you gave direct evidence to support your claim. I think you also did a good giving a variety of examples about reenactments and stating their specific goal in the Civil War.
I did think the post was very informative. The only thing I think you could improve upon is the battles themselves. While you did talk about what the goals of each were, I think you could have gone into a little more detail about what exactly happened in the battles. Overall though, I think it was really good and covered all the basics.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
This post was very well written, very structured. I like how you gave direct proof of how reenactments are meant to teach the public about the civil war. You supported the argument for educative purposes with out having to actually say it. Also, I felt that it was informitive to know that there are reenactments shedding light on the perspective of an African American during that time period.
One thing I felt was weak in this post was you did little interpretation of your own. You laid out what the organizations think but you did not offer one of your own opinions. Overall though this post give great proof to the common goal of civil war reenactments.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
I really enjoyed your post, and it felt like I was reading an actual research paper and now a blog post that was thrown together in 10 minutes. You clearly took the time to research this topic well, and avoided your own feelings on the subject. I like how you went through all 3 of your sources and discussed them, which made the structural outline of your essay very easy to follow. I also agree with you that these reenactments are key to making the study of history more interesting for students to learn about, by seeing it really happen instead of reading about it in books.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Your post was the most researched and developed post. You had great quotes and links and stated new interesting information.
I learned that the 54th Mass Volunteer Infanty visits schools. This is great since some people might not be able to make it out to the actual reenactment, plus the kids get to talk to the soldiers; since the “actors” place heavy emphasis on detail, they are pretending to be an actual soldier from that period. Also, I never paid attention to the fact that all reenactments, or most, only show the South Carolina side, and never the African American side. It would be interesting to see the African American perspective though.
I like how you mentioned several groups that bring about these reenactments. You mentioned the NCWA, 54th Mass Volunteer Infantry and the American Civil War Society. You also included links to each site you mentioned. Even though these groups all have to same purpose and basic motives; Educate and details to make it exact.
These reenactments are great for teaching.(Most) people can relate nicely to visual learning techniques better than they can reading a textbook.
There was basically nothing wrong with your post. The ending could have been a little stronger in which you concluded things but since the post is relatively short, it is not exactly necessary. Your thesis statement confused me a little. I would make it shorter and more direct.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Your essay was very good explaining everything that the re-enactors do for the people. It shows that they are truly interested in what the people of this country understand about one of the main events in its history, instead of just trying to make money easy by knowing people’s interests. Also, people have not been reading as much as they used to. Movies are made everyday depicting history in different ways but re-enactors come closer to the truth.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I think you really want to know about reenactment, because you have four very good website about civil war reenactment. You also picked three civil war reenactment website and make some summary and goal. Those three website had different point of view about civil war reenactment. When you said civil war reenactments are a good way of teaching people about the way battles were fought during the civil war, I think I agree with on this 100%. I think it just so much liver, we could never learn that during the class time. I really enjoyed read your post, it’s well done.
March 8th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Reading over the post, I like how you clearly describe each website that you have used to support your answers. Each website that you mention has their own way and reason why these reenactment are so important in today’s society. Without this reenactment, the civil war in general will disappear slowly without telling everyone what it really means to the people who lived through it. The format of this post is well written and easy to follow. I do agree with you on how the internet makes. What you could’ve included to make it more helpful and interesting is that who are the people that are reenacting the civil war. Basically that’s it; otherwise this post is fine.
What I learned is that these organizations that reenact the civil war is non-profit. I am actually surprised because I would think that the props will be very expensive to rent or buy. My understanding of the post is that it’s very important and they try to reenact every detail as close as possible.
March 8th, 2007 at 6:26 am
This was a very good post. The thesis is stong and is supported throughout the body of the paper. Also the paper does a good job of reminding us of exactly what these re-enactments are trying to teach. And how and why they are trying to teach it. Also I found it very interesting that most of these re-enactment society’s are completely non-profit. Other than a few minor grammatical errors I see nothing wrong with this post.
March 8th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Your post is very well written. Your whole post supported your thesis very well, it was well orgnaized and flowed
from one reenactment to the other smoothly. I also agree that civil war reenactments are an excellent method to teach people about the battles that happened. Your post provided a good amount of information on the topic. It’s true that from what I read about the organizations, they’re doing it all for promoting the knowledge about the civil war and not for money or other reasons. Good job on the post, nicely written.
March 8th, 2007 at 7:56 am
I thought your post was very well written and I learned a lot from it. I liked how you choose 3 websites and compared them. I found it interesting how all the organizations are non-profit, and they do such a good job at the same time. It demonstrated that the people who are involved with the re-enactments really want to help the people watching and educate them.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:46 am
You post was very detailed and informative. You included so much information, quotes, and reliability to your post that it reinforced your thesis. You really did your research, and it paid off in your post. I think that you did an excellent job tying in the three different websites together, to create one cohesive idea. The one area I think you could have focused on more, is the last statement of your first paragraph. The idea that the reenactments could help publicize information through the internet is very interesting. The battlefield re-creations are interesting to people who are present, but the internet makes it possible to reach people not even in the United States. Besides that, I think you did a wonderful job.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Good Job. Your post was very informative and well written. You were very detailed and you seemed to have know what you were writing about. Comparing the websited helped me understand what your were writing. Your thesis was well written and easy to understand. You really did seem very interested in reenactments and it shows in your writing. Good job.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
This is a very good post and very well structured and well written. Every point went in order from the first web site to the next website and also you stuck to the thesis through out the paper and kept on going back to the thesis to support the point.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
You did a great job on making your paragraphs flow together. I especially like how you referenced quotes to back up your statements of how people are putting great works into reenacting the Civil War. I thought the association you mentioned that would volunteer to speak at schools to educate children of our past was quite interesting. It is great how people will volunteer with no charge to acknowledge America’s past.
I didn’t find anything particularly wrong with your post. You informed me on where to refer back to if any questions do arise, and that such organizations/websites exist. The only thing I want to advise is that your opening statement didn’t seem to catch my attention as much as it should have. Overall, you did a good job! Your post was very informative.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I really think this was one of the best blogs I have read so far this semester. It was easy to read and very well written. Your thesis statement was very good and you argued it well throughout your whole paper. Also, you did a really good job in making your paragraphs make a lot of sense and flow with the next one. I liked how you broke them down into three different sections and using quotes even made your paper stonger. I could tell really easily how much time you spent on this blog post.
I’ve tried so hard to find a critique for your post, but there doesn’t seem to be any of them. The only thing I can say is to spend more time adding information about the orginations and what happened. But excellent job.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
I thought your post was very well organized. I think you did a great job explaining the purpose of the reenactments. I like how you divided up the organizations that offered reenactment into three sections. I liked how you stated what each organizations goal was. It made it easier to understand. You backed up your thesis really well.
I was also quite amazed that one organization showed the African American side. I would have not thought they would show their size. I think reenactments are important in that they educate our children of the past.
All in all, you have a great post which was very informative and I enjoyed reading it. I really can’t find any weakness in your post. Good job!