chap 3

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Another facet that makes determining family history difficult when it comes to the Civil War is the fact that this was not a war of the entire south against the north. This was a war of individuals choosing their state versus their personal beliefs and family. Assuming that your family is from the south, ergo they were Confederates is not a valid position. Much to the surprise of the author who knew that there were a few Yankee relatives that had come from the north after the war, the assumption that all the southern based families fought for the south was quickly dispelled with a little research. Interestingly enough the family stories were never very clear on issues of the war and the Yankees hidden in the history of a family that helped to tame the Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma territory. Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune newspaper is often attributed with the famous, “Go West, young man, go West” quote. If Greeley was not the first to utter the phrase he was certainly the most likely person to use this idiom to support his advice to Civil War veterans and popularize the saying. His editorials after the war were less often published but his July 13th, 1865 editorial in the Tribune spoke to veterans about the Homestead Act and their ability to settle the public lands offered for growth of the country. Finding Family History Each family has an interesting history, at least to their descendants. The internet has offered everyone the opportunity to become a junior genealogist. Sites such as Ancestory.com provide records searches that are easy. State and Federally supported websites provide records of marriages, military service and deaths. Copies of Civil War services records can be obtained showing enl... ... middle of paper ... ...s history. The enemy wasn’t confined behind certain borders but was found in every state and territory. The election of Lincoln had been firmly split along political lines and not solely state lines, even though a higher percentage of southern states supported the democratic candidate. PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom -- and of whom only -- it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.27 Concerns regarding slavery and “all men created equal” concepts had been raised at the initial Constitutional Convention and had been swirling around in politics for more than one hundred years prior to the elections of 1860. Lincoln’s position on slavery was well known but fear of abolitionists gaining an upper hand prevailed to create a secession mentality in the south and Border States.

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