tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post9061966885390683395..comments2024-03-29T05:03:05.347+02:00Comments on Dispatches from Vilnius: Race and ReunionJames Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-77363293539580947372009-07-28T14:34:41.687+03:002009-07-28T14:34:41.687+03:00Blight spent some time on Bierce and DuBois, notin...Blight spent some time on Bierce and DuBois, noting what a contrast their writings were to the Lost Cause literature of the day. Bierce was a fierce anti-sentimentalist and, in Blight's view, was singularly obsessed with death, noting An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge in particular,<br /><br />http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/375<br /><br />In DuBois he noted the richness of Souls of Black FolkJames Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-17328869354193744412009-07-16T14:11:13.011+03:002009-07-16T14:11:13.011+03:00I set R&R aside while I read Uncle Tom's C...I set R&R aside while I read Uncle Tom's Cabin but plan to return to it soon. Tourgee really fascinates me, and I think I will read more on him afterward.James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-88170617252802038002009-07-10T16:20:50.580+03:002009-07-10T16:20:50.580+03:00Thanks for all these comments on Blight's book...Thanks for all these comments on Blight's book, Gintaras. I looked for my book the other day, but had no luck. But I'm still able to retrace the development of some of my own thinking through your comments.avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-48347274965077540392009-07-10T10:43:47.828+03:002009-07-10T10:43:47.828+03:00Blight provides a evocative character sketch of Gr...Blight provides a evocative character sketch of Grant following his presidency, during which time he experienced financial ruin at the hands of Ferdinand Ward only to bounce back shortly before his death with his Memoirs, which became the most popular Civil War testimony and one that has endured the test of time. While Blight notes that Grant was a reconciliationist, he didn't believe in James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-50381255470859470172009-07-08T13:01:43.625+03:002009-07-08T13:01:43.625+03:00In regard to Race and Reunion, Blight spends quite...In regard to Race and Reunion, Blight spends quite a bit of time on the great number of first person accounts that were written in the 1880s for Century magazine, eventually compiled into a four-volume set that tried to capture the war in valorous terms, assenduously avoiding the issues of race, cause and imprisonment. He notes that when Century did pursue prison accounts, notable Andersonville,James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-45806893811449782052009-07-08T11:04:52.411+03:002009-07-08T11:04:52.411+03:00All that cotton went through New York ports first ...All that cotton went through New York ports first with NY banks extending the South loans based on the value of that cotton, so the South was very much reliant on the North for its prosperity, which I think was one reason they worked so hard on NY political leaders.<br /><br />I think it was Catton who speculated on Northern states that considered secession as well and New York was one of them. James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-27735757888019378152009-07-08T06:15:10.577+03:002009-07-08T06:15:10.577+03:00"I was so struck by all the legislation that ..."I was so struck by all the legislation that was passed during the Lincoln administration. It did all seem focused on developing the West."<br /><br />Me, too, avrds. I had and thoroughly enjoyed a course in history of the Westward Movement which owed much to/left me a fan of Turner, whether or not he's in favor nowadays. <br /><br />And yes, Hobsbawm is most certainly on the TBR NYT Perduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05799504399477460783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-59302969173142504022009-07-08T06:03:46.138+03:002009-07-08T06:03:46.138+03:00Do you think then that the Southern economy was mo...Do you think then that the Southern economy was more like a colony to England than the North?<br /><br />NY and Robert, I think you both will like Hobsbawm if you ever get around to him because this is largely what he talks about, just in a much bigger context.<br /><br />Not sure who I was reading today -- maybe it was Turner looking for that quote on the civil war -- but someone pointed out avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-11010489714330896732009-07-08T05:54:28.034+03:002009-07-08T05:54:28.034+03:00However, let's not forget the South did have t...However, let's not forget the South did have the raw materials so necessary to England's "dark Satanic mills." <br /><br />robert: I know you said you enjoy making broad generalizations but back them up with sources, and I can go along with the North being more diverse since it was the (voluntary) immigration destination, but I'll ask what source causes you to say the NorthNYT Perduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05799504399477460783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-62279505334562925932009-07-08T04:57:56.681+03:002009-07-08T04:57:56.681+03:00Just how much did Cultural differences between Nor...Just how much did Cultural differences between North and South lead to expansion of the one area while the other remained essentially stagnant? Leaving aside slavery for the moment, would not the North have outstripped the South anyway, leading to rivalries and tensions which could have led to armed conflict? The disputes over tarrifs were mighty intense. The North had an immigrant labor force robertwhelanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12734928563705595948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-2359921824478898762009-07-07T18:18:26.254+03:002009-07-07T18:18:26.254+03:00It was the expansion of slavery into the new terri...It was the expansion of slavery into the new territories that lit the fuse of the Civil War. The North was expanding more rapidly than the South. Throughout the Civil War, work continued on the trans-Continental railway, which had been authorized in 1862. I think it was McPherson who noted how important railroad lines were to the North and Goodwin noted Stanton's audacious plan to supply James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-89689692968712927262009-07-07T01:20:41.126+03:002009-07-07T01:20:41.126+03:00Turner was right----the West was the safety valve-...Turner was right----the West was the safety valve---and when the South thought it was going to be turned off to them with regard to slavery, it contributed to the coming of the War. I don't know whether it can belisted as a cause per se, but surely it has to be factored in. Lincoln was probably right in thinking that isolation might cause the death of slavery.robertwhelanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12734928563705595948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-58876732181515732522009-07-06T21:04:35.176+03:002009-07-06T21:04:35.176+03:00That's one of the most amazing points made by ...That's one of the most amazing points made by Turner, who has been largely discredited by academics -- he says that the West was so central to American "expansion" and history, it even caused the Civil War. When I brought that up to a colleague, it sort of floored her (since I"m the only remaining neo-Turnerian left in the academy).<br /><br />Now you're digging into my avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-61509205789053381432009-07-06T20:49:55.644+03:002009-07-06T20:49:55.644+03:00You almost have to wonder if the war was really ab...You almost have to wonder if the war was really about shaping the West, from the Northern point of view, in its industrial vision. The South would essentially remain a relatively easily exploitable agricultural base until the US was able to exploit the Latin American countries.James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-33422391110885047432009-07-06T20:46:46.463+03:002009-07-06T20:46:46.463+03:00I don't take you as as Neo-Confederate, avrds....I don't take you as as Neo-Confederate, avrds. I had the feeling you were shortchanging Lincoln there on the issue of emancipation. I felt he saw it more than just a political and military tool but as a way to turn the course of war, but needed a victory, which he finally got at Antietam, in order to deliver it. <br /><br />I like to think that Lincoln would have done a much better job of James Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901612633415337879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103772230302021699.post-14945199899171959192009-07-06T20:01:40.211+03:002009-07-06T20:01:40.211+03:00Nice to see this book highlighted. I'm thrill...Nice to see this book highlighted. I'm thrilled that you are reading it and enjoying it as much as I did. <br /><br />The whole concept of how we remember the past and package these ideas is the point I've been trying to make all along, albeit inadequately -- and why I come across sounding like, in Blight's words from the Foner book, a neo-Confederate, libertarian utopian -- or avrdshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997163948247445009noreply@blogger.com