James Garfield Essay Outline

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James Garfield was a Union army general who fought in the Battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh, and Chickamauga, and would later become the President of the United States for 200 days. He was a self-made man who was an important contributor in the Civil War due to his bravery, leadership skills, and appropriate radicalism. James Garfield was born on November 19, 1831, in Orange, Ohio, in a log cabin. His father died only two years after his birth, so his mother raised him along with his older siblings while still managing the family farm. During his teen years, he towed barges up the Ohio Canal in order to support his impoverished family. He was nicknamed “The Canal Boy”. He later attended the former Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, which is now currently Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, from 1851 to 1853. He then proved himself to be a skilled public speaker and an excellent student at Williams College. He attended Williams College for two years before graduating in 1856. Garfield joined the Union army as a lieutenant colonel within the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861. He pr...

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