Family Fued
From the desk of Jan Hommel, Museum Director:
What was America鈥檚 first and only 鈥渇amily feud鈥�? (War Between the States)
The nation鈥檚 bloodiest and most divisive war was fought not against a foreign aggressor but between citizens of the United States. It was not a 鈥渃ivil war鈥� as it is most often called because the Southern states were not seeking to rule the North; they merely wanted to secede or leave and form their own country. The Northern states, seeking to preserve the United States as it was, took action to protect northern economic interests and to prevent secession. A more accurate term would be 鈥淭he War Between the States鈥�, or 鈥淭he War for Southern Independence鈥�, or 鈥淭he War of the Rebellion鈥�, or 鈥淭he War of Northern Aggression.鈥�
Dr. Brunson鈥檚 11th grade AP U.S. History class visited the museum this week for an introduction to the War Between the States. The American 鈥淐ivil War鈥� or War Between the States, is very personal and people still take sides today! Why is that? Students found evidence of a 鈥榩ersonal鈥� war in the names of the war, the people, the age of soldiers and the number of soldiers lost per battle. Students were quick to see how such loss would impact every family in the United States physically, economically and socially and the years that it took for the Nation to recover.
The students also had the opportunity to taste Civil War Hardtack (provided by Dr. Glen Graves and family). Hardtack is a biscuit made of flour and water and looks like a big soda cracker. Civil War soldiers ate a lot of hardtack. Hardtack was so hard the soldiers called them “sheet iron crackers” or “tooth dullers.” Soldiers were rationed 6-8 hardtack crackers every 3 days. Inexpensive and long-lasting, it was and is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages, land migrations, and military campaigns.