The Civil War: Told through Photography and Poetry

The American Civil War was one of, if not the single greatest defining moment in United States history. It forever altered and changed the fate of our nation, and created it into the free state that it is today. It was through the bloodshed of hundreds of thousands of men that in turn freed four million enslaved African Americans. Needless to say, the Civil War is a very important piece of American history. In a time that contained none of the technological advances that we take advantage of today, enabling fast traveling news and information that can be seen and spread within seconds of an occurrence; the nineteenth century used more traditional means (such as newspapers, magazines, books, or word of mouth) to spread news and information from one person to another. Arguably, the two most influential sources of information during the times of the Civil War were written documents, like books, newspapers, or magazines. Two very important aspects that went into these written documents were poetry and photography. Both of which still play an immense role - even today - in the telling of the occurrences during the Civil War