History of Andersonville Prison
When one turns on the television today they are made witness to all the crimes that are present in society. It is impossible to sit through thirty-five minutes of news without anger and rage becoming aroused. This is because society is bothered by infinitesimal paraphernalia. Society also believes in human rights and punishment for those who violate such rights. Yet what constitutes humanity? Ever sit there and watch the news and wonder just how far humanity reaches? When is it time to say this is a human rights violation? Every wonder when someone’s morals and ethics begin to effect their ability to do their job? Ever wonder why in every news story the “bad guy” always become caught? Ever wonder how many people on death row might not be guilt? Some of them could have even been used as scapegoats. Yet how does one become a scapegoat? Could someone out there have that much hatred and anger to blame one person for the faults of many? Is the need for blame significant? Does desire lead to more hatred and evil? What does it feel like to be blamed for something that might not be wrong, and to be put on trial knowing that the jury wants to blame someone? In society and in the United States since its founding, there has been a need to place blame. Imagine how the person being blamed would feel. Henry Wirz did not have to image it; he lived through it and died for it. Someone is always to be blamed, even if they were just following orders. Orders which can only go so far until humanity takes effect. Henry Wirz was used as a scapegoat for war crimes committed during the Civil War at Andersonville Prison, however that does not justify his acts or make him an American hero.
Ever take a midnight train to Georgia? No, well ever drive through Georgia? When driving through Georgia on State Road 49, there is a little town called Andersonville that is very easy to miss. To many it is just another town. Yet this town has its own trail. The Andersonville Trail is a small brown dirt road that leads visitors to the Andersonville National Historic Site (Roberts xi). This National Historic Site looks like a “well- tended” national cemetery. On closer examination, this cemetery is nothing like Arlington (Roberts xi). “In this national cemetery, the marble headstones are so close together, they almost touch. The markers appear to be one long head...
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... Confederacy should face the truth as did Eliza Frances Andrews, who wrote of Andersonville: “it is horrible, and a blot on the fair name of our Confederacy” (Futch 122). That is exactly it, Andersonville was a blot on the Confederacy not on just Wirz, yet Wirz was blamed. Does this seam fair? Hardly. What happened at Andersonville was a repercussion of the Confederacy’s inability, not on the inability of Henry Wirz.
Bibliography
Denny, Robert. Civil War Prisons and Escapes. New York, New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 1993.
Futch, Ovid. History of Andersonville Prison. Indiantown, Florida: University of Florida Press, 1968.
Hillstrom, Kevin. American Civil War Biographies. Michigan: The Gale Group, 2000
Levitt, Saul. The Andersonville Trial. New York, New York: Random House, 1960.
Murphy, Richard. The Nation Reunited. Canada: Time-Life Books, Inc. 1987
Roberts, Edward. Andersonville Journey. Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press, 1998
Robertson, James: Tenting Tonight: A Soldier’s Life. Canada: The Time-Life, Inc. 1984.
Shaw, William B., et al. A Photographic History of the Civil War. Six Volumes. New York, New York: The Blue and Grey Press, 1987.
Scapegoats appear abundant in the world today. Political parties and businesses consistently seem to find a person or small group that takes the blame for serious issues. This can cause problems and arguments that sometimes lead to something serious like wars. Scapegoats are just a way of passing blame off of oneself and on to others, just so reputations can remain intact. This sort of attitude shows how lethargic the world has become, where people don’t even take responsibility for their actions. Many people from older generations complain about how all the new generations become too comatose and unwilling to take on their own actions and indiscretions. With attitudes like this, peace will never be found and will inevitably lead to conflict. Something must be done to stem the flow of scapegoats which have been utilized far too much over time.
There are many different ways in which the war was represented to the public, including drawings, newspaper articles, and detailed stereographs. Stereographs such as John Reekie’s “The Burial Party” invoked mixed feelings from all of those who viewed it. It confronts the deaths caused by the Civil War as well as touches upon the controversial issue over what would happen to the slaves once they had been emancipated. This picture represents the Civil War as a trade-off of lives- fallen soldiers gave their lives so that enslaved black men and women could be given back their own, even if that life wasn’t that different from slavery. In his carefully constructed stereograph “The Burial Party,” John Reekie confronts the uncertainty behind the newly
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
The next big show that everyone seems to be talking about nowadays is “Orange is the new black.” A show that is centered on what citizens think a day in the life in a women’s prison is. But in all reality a women’s prison isn’t something to joke around about. Prison is defined as a correctional facility designed for confinement that is primarily ran by the state. Women serve their sentences in women’s prisons where men serve theirs in men’s prisons. According to Ashley Dugger an online introduction to criminal justice professor there is about 4,500 prisons in the United States alone. Of those 4,500 only 170 of them are solely women’s prisons.
Calypso feels that her sexuality makes her susceptible to unfair treatment by the gods. This further proves the point that women were objectified, sexually and otherwise, in Greek culture. It is important to note that Odysseus’ relationship with most goddesses throughout The Odyssey involves the act of sex. Athena, on the other hand, personifies both feministic and non-feministic traits, although they are not necessarily masculine traits. This is quite strange, however, as most women are represented as solely feminine and completely inferior to men. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. According to Homer, in the Iliad, Athena is portrayed as a fierce and ruthless warrior, characteristics that women were not generally assigned during this time period. At the same time, Athena is illustrated as being emotional, acting on her emotions. She has a
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The Civil War. Prod. Ken Burns. Dir. Ken Burns. By Ken Burns and Ken Burns. Perf. David
Kelly, M. (n.d.). Overview of the American Civil War . American History From About. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/civiloverview.htm
An American resolution: The history of prisons in the United States from 1777 to 1877 by Matthew Meskell. Stanford Law Review.
The Civil War was the first major conflict to be documented by photography. At the time of the Civil War, it was vital to have public support on both the North and the South side of the dispute. It is also said that if war efforts do not have complete support of its’ citizens that it will not result to any benefits. Photography was one way that was almost guaranteeing support of citizens on the homefront. Photographers had power within their photographs, toying with the pathos of the civilians, and causing them to feel whatever the photographers wanted them to. This power was abused at time by manipulating people’s opinions towards the war. There were pictures coming back from the warfront one after the other which made it impossible for people to feel an emotional connection to the soldiers at war. These photographs allowed events happening miles away to feel like they were closer to home causing people to support the war efforts more heavily. Instead of people having their own opinions during the war, photographers used manipulative
The process took longer, but the citizens sure did appreciate it. Bob Keller, president of the Center of Civil War, states, “It (photographs) was their most visceral, closest link to their loved ones.” There were around five thousand photographers by the time the war broke out, so there were millions of photos being taken. These photos were displayed in mostly New York City and Washington D.C., and later were engraved into magazines and newspapers (Eric Niier). The photographs are sometimes compared to the live videos of the Vietnam war in the late twentieth century, and how they are compared (civilwar,org). The process to get these photos was long. First of all, their equipment was very heavy and hard to carry around. Then, the process called the wet-plate process had to occur. The mixture of dangerous chemicals (collodion) is used to coat the plate glass to make it sensible to the light. In the darkroom, next, you put the plate in silver nitrate, put it in a light-tight container, and then put it in the camera. Then, the cap of the camera was removed for two to three seconds, so the plate can be exposed to the light. This imprinted the image on the plate. Then the photographers took the plate, next, to the darkroom and developed the image in pyrogallic acid. To protect, they washed it with water and put a coat of varnish on it. This image can now be printed on paper and mounted. Some historians call the Civil War the “true watershed moment in the history of
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.
The. McMurty, John. A. "Caging the Poor: The Case Against the Prison System." The Case For Penal Abolition? Ed. W. Gordon West and Ruth Morris.
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