Manning Discussion

Next Wednesday we will spend our class time discussing the required book by Chandra Manning: What This Cruel War Was Over. The entire book is required reading. This is a longer reading assignment than we’ve had to this point, but here are some tips to help you read.

Based on your reading of the Manning book, your comment on this post should respond to ONE of the following two questions. Group 2 (those who responded after class on the Kornblith and Ayers readings), should now post before the discussion next Wednesday.

Option #1: Two questions constantly resurface in scholarship about the motivations of soldiers during the Civil War: why did non-slaveholders in the South fight for a Confederate government that was, according to its own Constitution, dedicated to upholding slavery? Relatedly, why would Northern soldiers ultimately fight in a war to emancipate slaves if they were not always fully committed to racial equality or abolition? Does Manning’s book offer any evidence or arguments to answer these two questions? Explain what makes her argument persuasive or not, using specific evidence from the book.

Option #2: The primary aim of Manning’s book is to understand what motivated soldiers in the ranks during the Civil War. Did soldiers’ thinking about the war change over time? To answer this question, focus on one of the two armies–Union or Confederate–and choose two moments in the War, at least a year apart. How were the motivations of soldiers at one of the moments you’ve chosen different from or similar to their motivations at the other moment? Is the evidence Manning uses to make the case for change or continuity convincing?

While you’re reading Manning’s book and thinking about these questions, you may also want to pay attention to the basic chronology of the war–major turning points, battles, and events. In class we will not be studying all of the battles of the War in detail, so this book is your primary opportunity to get a basic overview of the war’s history from beginning to end. Taking some notes about the key military junctures and figures will be useful to you later in the class.