Topics, Questions, Ideas from Responses

 

 

Jon: “The Civil War, on the other hand, I feel had the opportunity for a peaceful compromise.  But . . .” 

 

Jen: Slavery was efficient . . . maybe it wasn’t so bad. (??) “I guess I can see how it would help to have people working for you instead of doing the work alone. . .

 

Krissy: was the war to end slavery, or to preserve the Union? What difference does it make?

 

Laura: On Lincoln as leader.

 

Possible parallels with the current situation: “I wonder what they will be saying 150 years from now about our war with Iraq.” 

 

On media versions of war and how the enemy is always nameless and often faceless.

 

Sam: On the results of the war, whether the outcome justified the costs. “The actual question is again of the effectiveness of violence . . . “

 

Brice: the historical importance of the war, and the sword that his parents still have. Why does it still have such a hold on the American imagination?

 

Norma: “What if?” questions.