Ordinary Children Extraordinary Legacies: Childhood During the American Civil War

Author

Deborah S. Holder

Date of Award

1999

Degree Name

English

College

College of Liberal Arts

Type of Degree

M.A.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Katharine Rodier

Second Advisor

Leonard J. Deutsch

Abstract

War heroes do not have to wear uniforms, display meritorious medals for bravery and sacrifice, or voluntarily fight for their country in military regiments. The real heroes are all people touched by conflict. The strategy of war positions the powerful against the powerless, thereby creating an absurd imbalance within society. Hence, ordinary citizens become heroes not by decision but by circumstance; had they a choice, they most certainly would not choose to participate in war. Joseph Heller once said about his war novel: "Catch-22 says that people in power have a right to do to us anything we can't stop them from doing" (The Learning Channel). Unfortunately children, too, are often the casualties of a political Catch-22. Civil War children were the offspring of a conflicted society and they bore the brunt of the warfare. Certainly Civil War children represented the weaker segment of society and did not have the influence to stop the conflict. They did, however, become political pawns of a country torn apart. Their presence represented what we had lost in the bloody conflicts; their lives gave us hope about what we had to gain. They were victims, survivors, and heroes.

Subject(s)

United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 –Children.

Children and war.

Recommended Citation

Holder, Deborah S., "Ordinary Children Extraordinary Legacies: Childhood During the American Civil War" (1999). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1671.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1671