Prompt #2: Response to "Picturing the Civil War 3: African American Soldiers" by Prof. Fahs

While reading through "Picturing the Civil War 3: African American Soldiers," one could see that Professor Fahs' purpose in writing this blog post was to show how the representations of African Americans changed throughout the course of the Civil War; more specifically, the recruitment of African American soldiers changed how African Americans in general were perceived by the mainstream media. Prof. Fahs illustrates how mainstream media before the civil war portrayed African Americans as either stereotypical jokes of themselves or as helpless slaves.

The post proceeds in chronological order  from the beginning of the Civil War to the end, separated by images and Fahs' reflections on them. The recruitment posters and her rhetorical questions are especially intriguing as the rhetorical questions give a new light into how the posters may be perceived. While the ordinary onlooker may see the posters as purely informative, Prof. Fahs' rhetorical questions show how the posters appeal to the emotions and agency of African Americans to recruit into the army. From the posters, Prof. Fahs proceeds to talk about a piece in which an African American soldier is being trained by a white general, the Northern white fascination with the lives of slaves becoming soldiers, daguerrotypes of African American soldiers, and finally, the lingering racism that still existed in America despite the improvement of the general public's perception of black people. Not only does Prof. Fahs use rhetorical questions when referring to the posters, but they are also employed in the very last paragraph so that the reader may come to his or her own conclusions about how the images used in the Civil War were effective in changing perceptions and to what extent.

The questions/comments I have for Prof. Fahs are as follows:
Was having African American soldiers pose in a certain way in the daguerrotypes was intended to create meaning or did it just happen to have an impact on those who viewed it? If the latter, how do you know that the any, if at all, impact was created?
Your thesis is very compelling and putting it in a chronological order is helpful to the reader as one can follow along with your argument easily and effectively.
By pointing out how there was still racism underlying all the progress that had been made in changing the negative perception of African Americans, you successfully create an accurate insight into the societal values of the time.

Prompt #1 Reflections on the Civil War

My APUSH and IB History teacher, Mr. Ludlam with a smorgasbord of desserts.

The majority of my Civil War knowledge was imbued upon me by my junior AP US History teacher Mr. Ludlam. Mr. Ludlam was famous on campus and off for being very impassioned, strict, and a shouter (he would shout for almost every lecture, I kid you not). The Civil War was a topic of great interest to Mr. Ludlam for many reasons, most of which I cannot remember. But I do remember the main reason which was that it was an event that centered around one of his idols: Abraham Lincoln. When it came to learning the Civil War in APUSH my junior year, Mr. Ludlam made sure to make us think about and focus on the causes of the war. Everything from literature, politics, sociology, and economics, was discussed in class and expanded upon in essays.

Mr. Ludlam pounded into our heads the fact that Abraham Lincoln was never for the freedom of slaves from the very beginning of his presidency, but rather a proponent of keeping slavery from expanding; by doing so, Mr. Ludlam got the misconception that the Civil War was fought purely for the freedom of slaves out of our heads. Due to Mr. Ludlam's thoroughness in teaching the many reasons for the start of the Civil War, he was able to teach us to form and prove our own opinions regarding the causes of the Civil War.

Professor Fahs' lectures of the Civil War are a lot more quiet and calm than the Civil War lectures I remember, but they are also filled with detail and insight. Though we went over Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison's impact in the 19th century, it was not the main focus of the APUSH curriculum and therefore not focused on in detail. Focusing on Frederick Douglass and the abolitionist movement showed me new ideas and theories around the causes of the Civil War. Therefore I can supplement my own theories regarding the cause of the Civil War by using Frederick Douglass' actions and African American involvement's contingency as proof that the war was not purely about slavery but a big factor and major driving force.