On November 28, a group of McConnell Scholars sat down with Dr. Thomas Mackey, a History professor at UofL, to discuss the American Civil War. The Scholars have been studying different aspects of American History throughout the semester, and the Civil War is the latest and, in my opinion, the most important event we have studied thus far.
The Civil War is the defining moment in American History. The nation that we are today was shaped and formed in the crucible of fratricidal war. Before the war, the United States were referred to as "the United States are." It was not until after the war, when the idea of a Union of States gave way to a united nation, that the United States was referred to as "the United States is." Dr. Mackey, an expert in his field, drew our attention to documents from the time period to give us a better understanding of the war's beginning, its transformation from a fight to preserve the Union to a crusade against slavery, and the difficult task of Reconstruction (a task which some would argue is not yet complete). President Jefferson Davis' speech to the Confederate States Congress in April 1861 and President Abraham Lincoln's address to the United States Congress in July 1861 are just two examples of the documents that help show how complicated the causes of the war really were and the disagreement between the two sides.
It is of the utmost importance that we as McConnell Scholars know and understand American History. If we cannot understand the events of our past, we have no hope of understanding the present or shaping the future. The Civil War is THE defining moment in our history, and its effects are still being felt today. Our history makes us who we are, and we ignore it at our peril.
"The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress is so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope." - Robert E. Lee
The Civil War is the defining moment in American History. The nation that we are today was shaped and formed in the crucible of fratricidal war. Before the war, the United States were referred to as "the United States are." It was not until after the war, when the idea of a Union of States gave way to a united nation, that the United States was referred to as "the United States is." Dr. Mackey, an expert in his field, drew our attention to documents from the time period to give us a better understanding of the war's beginning, its transformation from a fight to preserve the Union to a crusade against slavery, and the difficult task of Reconstruction (a task which some would argue is not yet complete). President Jefferson Davis' speech to the Confederate States Congress in April 1861 and President Abraham Lincoln's address to the United States Congress in July 1861 are just two examples of the documents that help show how complicated the causes of the war really were and the disagreement between the two sides.
It is of the utmost importance that we as McConnell Scholars know and understand American History. If we cannot understand the events of our past, we have no hope of understanding the present or shaping the future. The Civil War is THE defining moment in our history, and its effects are still being felt today. Our history makes us who we are, and we ignore it at our peril.
"The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress is so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope." - Robert E. Lee