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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in History

Bring The Jubilee: The Civil War And The Healing Power Of Its Music, Richard E. Martin Jan 2021

Bring The Jubilee: The Civil War And The Healing Power Of Its Music, Richard E. Martin

History Undergraduate Works

The Civil War was the defining event in American history in many ways, and it was just as traumatic to the individuals who lived through it as it was to the nation. One way in which soldiers and civilians were able to process their emotions and understand their wartime experiences was through music. Civilians and soldiers alike wrote, published, performed, and listened to popular songs as a means of healing. This paper explores the variety of ways in which Americans of the North and South were able to do that. It examines the lyrics and music written during the war. …


Belle Isle, Point Lookout, The Press And The Government: The Press And Reality Of Civil War Prison Camps, Marlea S. Donaho Jan 2017

Belle Isle, Point Lookout, The Press And The Government: The Press And Reality Of Civil War Prison Camps, Marlea S. Donaho

Theses and Dissertations

The study of Civil War prisons is relatively new within the broader study of the Civil War. What little study there is tends to focus on bigger prison camps. It has been established in the historiography that prisoners suffered across the divided nation, but it has not been ascertained how the decisions and policies of the government, as well as the role of the press in those decisions, effected the daily lives of Civil War prisoners. Belle Isle, a Confederate Prison, and Point Lookout, a Union prison, will be analyzed for key differences to provide a fuller picture of life …


“Confederate Soldiers In The Siege Of Petersburg And Postwar: An Intensified War And Coping Mechanisms Utilized, 1864- Ca. 1895”, Matthew R. Lempke Jan 2017

“Confederate Soldiers In The Siege Of Petersburg And Postwar: An Intensified War And Coping Mechanisms Utilized, 1864- Ca. 1895”, Matthew R. Lempke

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis crafts a narrative about how Confederate soldiers during the siege of Petersburg experienced an intensified war that caused them to refine soldierly coping mechanisms in order to endure. They faced increasing deprivations, new forms of death, fewer restrictions on killing, dwindling fortunes, and increased racial acrimony by facing African American soldiers. In order to adjust, they relied on soldierly camaraderie, Southern notions of honor, letter writing, and an increasingly firm reliance on Protestant Christianity to cope with their situation. Postwar, these veterans repurposed soldierly coping mechanisms and eventually used institutional support from their states. Camaraderie, honor, literary endeavors, …


"Life Under Union Occupation: Elite Women In Richmond, April And May 1865", Amanda C. Tompkins Jan 2016

"Life Under Union Occupation: Elite Women In Richmond, April And May 1865", Amanda C. Tompkins

Theses and Dissertations

This paper crafts a narrative about how elite, white Richmond women experienced the fall and rebuilding of their city in April and May 1865. At first, the women feared the entrance of the occupying army because they believed the troops would treat them as enemies. However, the goal of the white occupiers was to restore order in the city. Even though they were initially saddened by the occupation, many women were surprised at the courtesy and respected afforded them by the Union troops. Black soldiers also made up the occupying army, and women struggled to submit to black authority. With …


The War Justified, Margaret T. Kidd Jan 2015

The War Justified, Margaret T. Kidd

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

This article explores how Methodist ministers, particularly Richmond Christian Advocate editor Rev. James A. Duncan, justified their support of the Confederacy and slavery. Also discussed is the Address to Christians Throughout the World, written by Duncan and signed by ministers of various denominations. It was billed as the "Christian response" to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.


Sins Of A Nation, Margaret T. Kidd Jan 2013

Sins Of A Nation, Margaret T. Kidd

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

This article explores how Methodist clergy in Virginia tended to the spiritual needs of their congregations in the context of war. It also discusses the way that clergy worked to make their ideas on the war and its progression known through newspapers, sermons, addresses, and government-recognized days of fasting and prayer. As the largest religious denomination in the South during the war the Methodist Church was in a position to not only offer support , but to shape the opinions of the Confederate people.


Sunday Does Not Come In Camp, Margaret T. Kidd Jan 2013

Sunday Does Not Come In Camp, Margaret T. Kidd

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

This article explores how the Methodist Church tended to the spiritual needs of the soldiers in the Confederate Army. The church supplied 448 chaplains to the Army, but there were never enough to meet the needs of the troops. The church worked to mitigate this problem by establishing the Soldiers' Tract Association in 1862 and by sometimes working with churches of other denominations to support the soldiers.


Interpreting The War Anew: An Appraisal Of Richmond’S Civil War Centennial Commemoration, Brandon Butterworth Dec 2012

Interpreting The War Anew: An Appraisal Of Richmond’S Civil War Centennial Commemoration, Brandon Butterworth

Theses and Dissertations

In existence from 1959 to 1965, the Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee was formed for the purpose of planning and executing Richmond’s Civil War centennial commemoration. In this thesis, the author will examine the history of the Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee (RCWCC) and its efforts to develop a new historical narrative of Richmond and the Civil War. This paper will assess Richmond’s previous attempts to commemorate the Civil War and will argue that the RCWCC contributed to the advancement of Richmond’s Civil War narrative by de-emphasizing past Confederate celebration attempts led by heritage groups and advancing a “reconciliation” narrative. …


The Walter And Inger Rice Center For Environmental Through Time: A Study In Environmental Change, Human Land Use And Its Effects Along The Lower James River, Chris Egghart May 2009

The Walter And Inger Rice Center For Environmental Through Time: A Study In Environmental Change, Human Land Use And Its Effects Along The Lower James River, Chris Egghart

Theses and Dissertations

Historic cartographic sources, historical accounts, and ethnographic and archaeological data are used help reconstruct past settlement patterns and land uses that together acted to shape the changing cultural landscape of the Virginia Commonwealth University Walter and Inger Rice for Environmental Studies (Rice Center). The Rice Center is located in Charles City County along the north bank of the James River between Richmond and Williamsburg. Presented is a baseline description of the present day condition of the Rice Center property. This is followed by a detailed account of the physiographic and ecological changes that occurred along the Lower James River since …


Life In An Occupied City: Women In Winchester, Virginia During The Civil War, Laura Jane Ping Jan 2007

Life In An Occupied City: Women In Winchester, Virginia During The Civil War, Laura Jane Ping

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the homefront experience of middle class, white women living in Winchester, Virginia during the Civil War. The experience of women in Winchester was unique because of Winchester's proximity to both the Union and Confederate capitals. Although the majority of Winchester's women were Confederate supporters a significant minority of the population remained loyal to the Union. Winchester citizens' divided status was further complicated by numerous occupations of the town by both armies. This thesis argues that in order to cope with wartime hardships women's concepts of patriotism changed as homefront morale waned. While early in the war women's …


Unconquerable Defiance: Richmond Newspapers And Confederate Defeat, 1864-1865, Anne K. Berler Jan 2007

Unconquerable Defiance: Richmond Newspapers And Confederate Defeat, 1864-1865, Anne K. Berler

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes and analyses how the Richmond press operated as a propaganda machine during the final year of the Civil War. It argues that the newspapers of the Confederate capital regularly exploited the propaganda value of the news they reported, employing methods including distortion of facts and libelous personal attacks. They displayed a seemingly total disregard for veracity in their zeal to convince their readership that the cause was not lost, and created a false picture of the real situation to a population which was war-weary and desperate for reassurance that victory was still possible. Defeats were minimized and …