So here are a few general ideas about research to pursue. I'm very interested in warfare and violence and particularly how violence has evolved in the modern era and how the sphere of warfare coexists alongside the civilian sphere.
-(here's my pick of the three...) I want to examine the nature of/rhetoric underlying violence in the American Civil War and compare it to the nature of/rhetoric underlying violence in putting down labor strikes in the era immediately after the Civil War--it seems like these are particularly striking instances in which Americans were fighting Americans. Who, for instance, was fighting? Was there any overlap of people who had fought in the Civil War and gone on to be Pinkertons? In what kinds of terms did they couch their violence/struggles? How did they view their opponents? How did race and class factor in?
-(also related to violence...) The transition to "total war" (ie idealogically motivated war that exceeds the bound of the military sphere) is something I find particularly interesting. In Europe some argue that this transition occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. When did this happen in the US? How were wars between white Europeans (the Revolutionary War, for instance, and some battles in the French and Indian Wars and the War of 1812) different in character from wars whose terms were couched in race (Jackson's battles with the Creek Native Americans, Sherman's March to the Sea, the "taming of the West")?
-Speaking of Sherman's March to the Sea, I'm pretty interested in this in general. I'm not sure if this technically counts as a "separate" research topic, but I might like to use this as a case study of "total war" in an American context--America is very obviously a different environment than Europe, and it stands to reason that America, without the same long-standing territorial, religious, and ethnic divisions as Europe has (which is not to say that America does not have its own divisions of these sorts), would be a very different environment in which to wage total war.
Thoughts....? Thanks!
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Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteI am particularly interested in your first topic and think there are a lot of ways you could go. The idea of Americans fighting Americans is such a huge theme of the Civil War that has been widely explored, but comparing it to the labor strikes isn't something I've ever thought of. It would be interesting if you could find a few individual examples of people who overlapped between, and fought in, both eras, though it might be difficult to prove a definite connection without a lot of evidence. At any rate, it would be a great place to explore and perhaps explain some trends of the labor strikes, such as tactics used.
Hey Alice,
ReplyDeleteI think that examining the transition to "total war" would be really interesting—in 19th Century America I read many chapters from "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" about the build-up to the Civil War and the change in philosophy regarding the reasons behind the politics and later war between the 1850s and the 1860s. While this is later than many of the areas you've proposed, looking at similar sources of information, just from earlier, might be useful to you. All this said, I agree with Jenni that your first topic is unusual and very interesting.
Alice -
ReplyDeleteI'm really drawn to your first two topics because I think violence is rarely addressed so blatantly in student research papers. My only advice would be to narrow down the first topic considerably. You ask really good questions, but it could be difficult to factor in race and class in such a small space - it opens up a whole other can of worms. I also like the idea of using "total war" as a means to compare early American wars with later ones - especially those where ethnicity became a concern (as you mentioned). You might even take it up to today, where most Americans have never known "total war" because we are largely isolated from it, with the way our country fights modern wars.
Alice--
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the posts above in that I really like your first two topic choices. At first glance it seems to me that the first topic choice is maybe more socially compelling but will be a tougher topic to approach as far as research and proof. The second topic is more of a removed analysis but I don't think you would have any problem finding a lot of literature written around all the major wars you might choose to discuss. That being said, I think your first topic is awesome. You would obviously have to put some time constraints (1865-1895?) on it but I think if you prefer that topic you should see what you can dig up and then if it is really tough then you have a great back-up in topic #2.
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteI'll talk about the third topic since that one has gotten the least attention so far, so I'll give it a little time in the sun. In addition to talking about how America is a very different place than Europe to imagine total war being waged, it might be interesting to examine the effects of this battle on the South. How did the fact that total war actually happened influence the psychology of Southerners-- in terms of fighting the Civil War, and the aftermath of the war? How did this defeat in particular contribute to the religion/attitude of the Lost Cause?
This idea of Total War and its aftermath seems like it has a lot of potential.
--Sylvie