Men Fought in the Civil Book Review

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 611 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1

Page 1 of 2



What a careful examination of such sources has revealed, according to the author, is that there were strong ideological reasons for the contesting of the Civil War, that were inherently mixed with a social identity that relied upon the approval of one's peer groups. "Yet for Civil War soldiers, the group cohesion and peer pressure that were powerful factors in combat motivation were not unrelated to the complex mixture of patriotism, ideology, concept of duty, honor and manhood, and community or peer pressure that prompted them to enlist in the first place" (McPherson 1997, 13). The ideologies that both sides embraced, therefore, were notions of patriotism (even for the Confederacy, which considered itself its own nation at the time of the belligerence), honor, and duty as a man. Interestingly enough this viewpoint is considerably at variance with that of the traditional opinion of the motivation for the combatants in the Civil War, which holds that there were no strong ideological perspectives relevant to combat entry.

Stuck Writing Your "Men Fought in the Civil" Book Review?

View All Our Example Men Fought in the Civil Book Review

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

Moreover, the issue of slavery played a relatively minor part in this ideology, since only 20% of the 429 combatants from the Confederacy were deemed to have "explicitly voiced proslavery convictions" (McPherson 1997, 110). However, the ideological conception of liberty was broadened "to include black people" by 1864.

Mitchell's book may be considered academically rewarding overall, if not for his copious offering of firsthand sources about this turbulent epoch in American history. The one drawback about the book and about his sources, however, is that the author himself concedes that they do not represent at least 35% of the Union army (McPherson 1997, IX), who may have been illiterate or foreign born soldiers. That fact detracts somewhat from the author's findings, which still revealed much about the sample of the population chosen for this literary work......

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Men Fought In The Civil" (2012, February 18) Retrieved June 4, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/men-fought-civil-54340

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Men Fought In The Civil" 18 February 2012. Web.4 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/men-fought-civil-54340>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Men Fought In The Civil", 18 February 2012, Accessed.4 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/men-fought-civil-54340
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example