Post # 4: The Civil War Without the Reenactments
The Civil War is one of the most important battles in countries. It had a major part in shaping the country into what it is today. It is important for us as a society and a country to remember what our fathers fought for. The Civil War re-enactors are there to remind us of the blood that was shed and the number of people that died fight in the countries most controversial war.
It is easy to forget about the men and women that died for their country in this war. Part of that is due to the fact that this country has a number of immigrants flowing in each year, all of which do not understand the sacrifice that was made in order to make this country the way it is today. However, it is mostly due to the lack of interest and knowledge in the majority of the people. If it weren’t for the Civil War re-enactments we would have long forgotten the intensity of the war.
These re-enactments aren’t as easy and simple as most people might think. They take time and are costly. They are carefully and cautiously studied. They use correct weapons and uniforms. They try to reenact as closely as possible the war on the fields. They cover important battles and show their significance. They also portray key individuals. Some of the individuals include President Abraham Lincoln and General Lee.
These reenactments are done throughout the United States. They are nationally recognized by libraries, parks, and schools. When they are not on the field working, they hold events in parades, school events, and even at ceremonies. They have been great teachers to the American society and continue to do so. They show emotions and sensations that words cannot describe.
Aside from what they have on the field, these reenactments also hold forums that teach others of the Civil War and show its importance. The Civil War without these re-enactors would have died long ago. Their dedication and understanding for the cause of the combat keeps the fire that sparked the Civil War burning.
March 6th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Based on the reenactment websites I looked at, I agree with you that some of these organizations take a lot of time and dedication to portray an accurate history of the Civil War. Some reenactments are able to duplicate aspects such as the clothing they wear, to the events that actually happened. The more accurate the reenactments are to the actual history, the better they can teach and remind people of the war.
Other than the fact that you only found two websites and you had many grammar mistakes, I did not find your argument to be completely convincing. I don’t agree with your statement that, “If it weren’t for the Civil War re-enactments we would have long forgotten the intensity of the war”. This is because I, and probably many others, have never seen a live Civil War reenactment and have still have an idea of what the war was like. Not to say that these reenactments do not play a part in helping us remember the war, but that there are other ways to remember such as by reading history books or watching filmed reenactments such as in movies. Even though movies are technically reenactments, I believe that they are the more successful in showing the intensity of the war because of special effects. In my opinion, live reenactments are a bit cheesy and not intense at all. Also, you failed to discuss what aspects of the war the reenactments were trying to portray (combat, domestic life, military life, politics), which is why I don’t think you thought about this blog post in much detail.
March 6th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Even though I have never been to a Civil War re-enactment, although I’ve seen one on an episode of South Park, I would have to agree with you when you state that they are dedicated in having their facts straight. This makes sense since they probably do not want to give any wrong information. I also agree that it takes a lot of time and effort in order to conduct and accurate Civil War reenactment with the right uniforms and weapons.
As for the things that I don’t agree. Your post makes it sound like if it wasn’t for reenactments, we wouldn’t have known that there has been a Civil War at all. This doesn’t make any sense because there are a lot of historical events that don’t have any reenactments and people still know about it from reading books. I also do not agree with the immigrant argument. Immigrants have also made sacrifices, like leaving their war torn countries for a second chance. Other than the grammatical errors, the links were good.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
This is a very good argument becasue I agree that if it were not for civil war reinactors and historic battlegrounds many people would probably have forgotten the bloodshed of the Civil War. Over all this is a very good argument except for a few gramatical errors.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
I thought that the approach you took in your post was different. I actually hadn’t thought about the reenactments as a way to remind us of the lives that were lost. I had just looked at them as educational and teaching us about history. The fact that you talked about how immigrants don’t really care much about the Civil War is interesting and true. They come here unaware of what costs America was built from.
I like how you spent time talking about what goes into making these reenactments and that it is not an easy task. I also found that while I was looking. People think that it is an easy thing to do, but really it is not. Trying to find the right outfits for that time period alone is a difficult enough task. I wish that you had included direct examples from the sites that you visited instead of just throwing them on at the end. Besides that, good post!
March 7th, 2007 at 7:39 am
I can not say that I completely agree with your thesis statement, I think that it is a bit strong of a statement and maybe too broad, but if everyone agreed it wouldn’t be a thesis statement. I really liked the point you brought up about the constant immigrant flow in the United States, and that they might not be aware of the blood shed to keep this country free. Aside from not agreeing with your argument, or the way it was presented at least, the only thing I would point out is that it did not seem as if much of what you said was information you had acquired through websites. Most of what you said seems to be prior knowledge or things that anyone knows if they think about it. I still think it was a good post though, well organized and thought out, and I do recognize as I said with the first post that I commented on that it was difficult for me to get any real information out of the sites I found.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:53 am
I thought your post made some good points about that war and you really seemed to describe what the reenactmentsare for and why you think they are performed and important to history. You were very strong in your opening and really make the reader think about how this war cost many their lives and sometimes today we can forget about all the people that died fighting to make our country what it is today.
Besides from some good points, I think you need to proofread a little better and just catch some simple mistakes. I think you should talk about the reenactments, which I can get to come up when I click on them so I don’t know if its just me or if they just aren’t working. Go into those reenactments more and tell what their purpose is and what is done at them.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I must agree that the reenactments are important. There aren’t really any reenactments of the War of 1812, or the Spanish American War (except perhaps the Alamo.) I don’t think that it is the reenactments that help us remember, but it is what we took out of the Civil War that inspired the reenactments. This is just my opinion though, doesn’t mean I’m right.
What I found most troublesome was lack of good grammer, and the word, or plural of “country” in every sentence for a paragraph and a half.
March 7th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I like that you formed an argument that could elicit different reactions from people. I would have to say I half-agree with your claim that we would forget about the lives lost in the Civil War. While I agree that the reenactments do cause people to remember the bloodshed and importance of the Civil War, I don’t think that Americans would necessarily forget that it happened. I also think the reason there is so much interest in reenacting the Civil War is because of what it was, a war within our country with our fellow country men, as opposed to having an “enemy” like the Nazi’s or British monarchy.
I also agree that the actors help to teach people what went on and do their best to be very accurate. I also agree that they are important.
Besides some grammatical errors, I think you did a good job in your blog. I do think that a lot of what you said are things that most people know. Like the importance of remembering and the fact that it takes lots of time and effort to do the reenactments. If you went into more detail about what exactly goes on in a specific reenactment, I think the post would be great.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
I felt that one of the strong points of your post was that you uncovered another perspective of why the civil war is reenacted. Your ideas leave room for creative and reflective thought, I begin to think about all of the possible reenactments that could be done, and begin to think of movies as sometimes being reenactments. Also through this creative thought I was able to realize why the civil war reenactments are important, they aren’t geard towards making money like movies are, they don’t overstate things or add extra drama, they tell it like it is.
Although I thought this post was very effective in causing its reader to begin to think critically I felt that the post should have done more interpretation of what purpose the reenactments serve. From learning things in history classes throughout my grade school years I could probably predict what happens in some of the scenes of a reeneactment as well as what some of them are wearing and to a degree what some of the weapons may look like. I disagree that reeanactments are meant for us to remember all of the lives lost, all of the blood shed. I’m sure that sometimes people think of this while witnessing a reenactment, I feel that mostly they are meant for education purposes. If they only reminded us of the blood that was shed, I do not believe they would be so popular and widely admired.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Your argument is direct and very easy to agree with. Civil war reenactments are crucial to the remembrance of the war and many people tend to forget the civil war, and most wars very easily. They did not effect our lives today so most people forget about the poor souls that had to die to make our country what it is today. Those who participate in the reenactments must do a very good job. They never break character and concentrate on details, such as their uniforms and weapons. I did learn from your post that these reenactments occur all over the country. I thought that it was just in Va. and Pa. since that is where it occured. It is great that they have it other places, so those far away can experience it as well. People can learn more and relate to something if it is right in front of them (visual learning) and the more people know, the better society is.
The only problems with your post was some grammatical errors, such as the first sentence. I did not know what you were really trying to say. Also, in the second paragraph, you just stated facts with no real details. Such as, “They also portray key individuals. Some of the individuals include President Abraham Lincoln and General Lee.” It was interesting that you included this fact, but I also wanted to hear how. It was just a little “choppy.” Great job adding the links though, very helpful.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I enjoyed your post because it made a very clear layout of why these civil war re-enactments are so imporant. I think that you made several good points including your discussion of how they take every single detail into account, making sure everything is as accurate as possible. Your clearly researched your topic well, and the links you provided were a great help in furthering your reader’s interest in the topic.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
You had some good points and some bad points in your post. For example when you said that this country is forgetting about what made it happen because the immigrants that are flowing in. I do not agree with that, the number of immigrants in this country might be increasing but the number of Americans is staying the same. Re-enactors do however keep the history in us, because unlike when we read stories about the war in our books, we can easily picture whats happening. It is the closest thing we might get to actually being present at the civil war.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I agree that Civil War re-enactments help show the intensity of the battles that were fought. It is hard to understand what people went through to keep this country whole, so we see it in many re-enactments such as the ones on the battle field and in movies. You researched your topic well, although I believe the topic is somewhat hard to research.
Although your article was very good I found many typos, it could be microsoft, which is what usually messes me up. Another thing I found a little odd was the fact that you focused a little too entirely on re-enactments on the actual battle field where civil war buffs go out and volunteer there time to play war. Although I know that seems a litte harsh but I have never seen a battlefield re-enactment and that kind of thing really does not interest me. I think more people learn about the battles from movies and documentaries then actually watching them in person, but everyone has there opinions and that is the whole purpose of the blogs. Your paper was well researched, especially with the money that goes into them.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
The reason people still have reenactment, because civil war is the most important war in America history. People try to remember what happened during civil war. Just like you say without reenactment people will forgot what happened during civil war. Especial young people, because they never understand what civil war is. Though reenactment they will know better about civil war, and they never forget about civil war.I really enjoyed read your post, it’s well done.
March 8th, 2007 at 5:09 am
Reading through out the post, I like how the information is well constructed. Your thesis makes sense and the important facts support your thesis even though you didn’t mention how many people died during the civil war. Each paragraph describes how the civil war reenactments are important to us and what would’ve happen if we didn’t have reenactments. I think you should have included whether the reenactments that they do included non-military subjects, such as politics, domestic life, farming, and craft labor.
I totally agree on what this post is saying. In order to reenact to the civil war, you will have to find a place, get uniforms whether it’s rented or made, get props that existed during that time. If you didn’t have those types of props, then how would you reenact the civil war? Other than that, I find that the websites that you used helped me understand more why reenactments to the civil war is important. Everyone should do whatever it takes to reenact something that is important like the civil war. Everyone will do whatever it takes to remember such an important event that means so much to them
March 8th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Your thesis is very easy to agree with, what other reason would grown men dress up and run around on a hot and humid battlefield if not to remind us of something very important. You make a good point by reminding us how much time and more importantly how much money goes into these re-enactments. Also it is good to remind us that many of these re-enactments are sanctioned by schools and libraries, this give me a sense of how accurate they are.
I did however see a few problems with your blog. For starters I think you need a little more editing work, there were a few sentences that didn’t make any sense. Also I think you may go a little to far on the importance of these re-enactions, although they may be important and a good educational device, I hardly think that Civil War would have “died long ago”. As an example World War II is a very important war in America’s history and even though there are no re-enactions it is still remembered and discussed in history classes and books.
March 8th, 2007 at 7:36 am
I would have to disagree with your post, I don’t think that it would be forgotten if the re-enactments did not happen. The civil war was a very important war that everyone knows and build our country. I think that the re-enactors do help in a certain way to connect with, and it does show people what really happened outside of a textbook. I encountered a lot of grammatical errors that would have been caught with a proof-reading. But overall it was a good post.
March 8th, 2007 at 9:17 am
I agree with your thesis that the Civil war reenactments
remind people about the great number of people that sacrificed their lives for the country. But I personally don’t think that this is the main and primary reason behind the reenactments of the battles. I think the main reason for them is to educate people about their country’s history and to clear up misinformation. Your reason that you stated could be a secondary reason most likely.
But you make good points about how people forget about the sacrifice that the soldiers made, so thats a good aspect of your post and something different from normal perspectives about reenactments. I think you should have elaborated more about the deatils of the reenactments instead of just describing how they’re setup and stuff.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:32 am
I think your insights into civil war re-enactments are great. Many people focus on the educational aspects of the recreated battles, but you take a slightly different approach. I completely agree with you that your comment that, because we have so many immigrants, it is very difficult to explain the sacrifices that our previous generations made for us today. In addition, the re-enactments help educate people about what took place, in a different fashion than historical textbooks. The one area you should watch out for is your word choice and grammar. Besides that, your post was very good.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I think that these re-enactments are a great way to remember history and it keeps on reminding us on how we got here and what previous leaders had to go through to get here. These acts help the younger generation to understand the history of this counrty and as you also said about how immigrants could also learn about it.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I agree with you that we easily forget to commemorate those who fought and died in the Civil War. Yes, “it is important for us to remember what our fathers fought for.” I also agree that people forget that the Civil War existed because of lack of interest and knowledge of our past. It is great importance, like you have mentioned that we have knowledgeable teachers that can teach us more into depth of America’s history so that we can acknowledge those who have risked their lives fighting the war.
Your post was interesting to read. However, I found your paragraphs not flowing together as well. You also could have made your posts better if you referred back to a particular forum and gave specifics on how this can help people to reenact the Civil War. You were not very descriptive in your writing, but mostly speaking generally. However, you’ve shared some great insight on how to make America’s history grow.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I enjoyed your re-enactments because it was a topic that is very agreeable. I do as well think that most people forget about the people who died to save our country. Most of the people just focus on the war itself and how it was fought, what kind of weapons were used, and many other details. I also agree with you that we probably don’t recognize this because of the lack of knowledge for the topic. I also think its because that teachers don’t teach us about the killings in school and not to forget the people who died to save our country. Well atleast my teacher just focused on what actually happened during the war. I don’t think once she mentioned that these people were dying for us today. So I completely understand where yur post is coming from.
Besides some grammar errors, I thought your post was very good. Maybe a little to straightforward as well. Next time you could go more into depth of what actually happened in the reeanactment. Other than those few issues, it was really well written.
May 10th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I would have to say I disagree with what you said here “The Civil War without these re-enactors would have died long ago”. This is very untrue; The Civil War was an important war that shaped our history. Without reenactments’ The Civil War would not have died but still been an important part of our history. You may be right about teacher’s not going into depth on who died for our country, but we still learn about the importance of the Civil war. Your statement was much generalized. I thought the main purpose of reenactments were to educated us on the history of how and why these wars broke out. I thought more of the emphasize was put that.
Overall, you had a good post. I think if you had more proof to back what you had stated in your thesis would have made your paper better. Besides a few grammer mistakes here and there, it was nicely written.