150 years of Blue & Gray

I am a Yankee.  No, I am NOT a fan of the boys in pinstripes.  I grew up in the north.  Though I've not lived in Minnesota far longer than I had lived in it, I still refer to myself as a Minnesotan when asked from whence I came.

Had you asked me ten years ago what I believed the cause of the Civil War to be, I would have answered slavery faster than you could say John Brown.  In fact, I would only have known John Brown as an epithet uttered by Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans.  Perhaps it had something to do with race.

Yes, I was Civil War ignorant.  Many would suggest I still am.

While far from a scholar, the last half-dozen years have opened my eyes to that enormous five-year scar on American history.  I can't even say that I'm widely read on the topic.  What I have seen and heard has dismantled my stereotypes.

America once again stands divided.  Many issues have us tearing at the fabric of our national foundations as we tear at one another.  No longer Blue and Gray, we are now Red and Blue (no association intended between the two pairings).  While the Blue/Gray ideological line divided us geographically North and South, no such geographical boundary divides Red and Blue (though some may argue that the coasts drift one direction and the heartland (aka "fly-over states") drift another).  At such a time as this and on the 150th anniversary, the sesquicentennial, of the Civil War, we would do well to familiarize ourselves with what Southerners refer to as the War of Northern Aggression.

Two good friends helped me to that end.  They introduced me to Jeff Shaara and his father Michael.  What his dad started with The Killer Angels, Jeff precluded with God's and Generals and concluded with The Last Full Measure.  They are historical novels.  From Killer Angels came the acclaimed film Gettysburg and from God's and Generals came the eponymous film, also widely acclaimed.  While the Shaara's write the stories in a novel format, the events are historically accurate.  The immense research for each book has given them insight into the individuals to thereby flesh them out for us in conversation and in action.  The books are riveting.

The second thing that has helped me to clear a bit of my ignorance and arrogance was Ken Burns' video documentary titled of all things The Civil War.  Burns did masterful work in research and story-telling.  The interviews with historians, especially the late Shelby Foote, are gripping.  I often wondered as I watched why I had never before seen the multitude of photographs that Burns brought to the screen.  Breathtaking.

So during this sesquicentennial, take some time to get to know the Civil War.  I recommend the Burns' documentary and the Shaara trilogy (and the Hollywood movies though long are well worth your time, too, whether you are North or South, Red or Blue).