Unit8 Discussion: American Revolution
George McClellan, 1862: Although a popular general with his troops (some would say because he did not put them into battle), McClellan exasperated Lincoln by not being particularly aggressive when fighting the Confederacy. McClellan’s military strategy should be compared with that of William Tecumseh Sherman, excerpted later. Within two years of being removed from his position, McClellan would be running against Lincoln for President
William Tecumseh Sherman, 1864: This letter was written just before General Sherman moved in on Atlanta, Georgia, and then began his infamous “march to the sea,” where Sherman did carry out on his threat to bring the Civil War to the Southern home front (even though the viciousness of his campaign would be dramatically overstated by Southern whites in the years to come). The Limits of Lincoln’s and the Union’s support for civil rights
President Abraham Lincoln on the Union, 1862: Throughout the first two years of the Civil War, Lincoln was playing a balancing act between liberals and conservatives in the country who had radically different ideas regarding the role abolition should play in the war. Even though Lincoln became the “Great Emancipator” it is worth considering to what extent abolition was simply more of a war aim (in other words, a way to break the back of the white Confederacy) than it was a humanitarian gesture.
question
Answer the following question with a minimum of 250 words. Be sure to cite from the Davidson text, lecture, and primary sources in your answer. After you post your answer, be sure to respond to at least two other students. In the discussion boards, the best answers will provide references to several different sources, as well as consider all sides of a given question.
Address what is meant when historians call the Civil War a second American Revolution. Your answer should define the term revolution in terms of political, economic, racial, or social change, and whether or not your definition applies to the Civil War.