USH: Civil War Archives - Daniel Aaron Lazar Sun, 26 Sep 2021 15:25:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 'The Slaves Dread New Year's Day the Worst': The Grim History of January 1 https://daniellazar.com/2020/05/11/the-slaves-dread-new-years-day-the-worst-the-grim-history-of-january-1/ Mon, 11 May 2020 18:58:40 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5942 Americans are likely to think of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as a time to celebrate the fresh start that a new year represents, but there is also a troubling side to the holiday’s history. In the years before the Civil War, the first day of the new year was often a heartbreaking … Continue reading 'The Slaves Dread New Year's Day the Worst': The Grim History of January 1 →

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]]> Fake news almost destroyed Abraham Lincoln https://daniellazar.com/2017/01/10/fake-news-almost-destroyed-abraham-lincoln/ Tue, 10 Jan 2017 07:04:04 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5625 Abraham Lincoln was more than just a foe of slavery. He was also a mixed-race eugenicist, believing that the intermarriage of blacks and whites would yield an American super-race. Or at least, that’s what newspapers in 1864 would have had you believe. The charge isn’t true. But this miscegenation hoax still “damn near sank Lincoln … Continue reading Fake news almost destroyed Abraham Lincoln →

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]]> A Scientific Analysis of Civil War Beards https://daniellazar.com/2015/11/03/a-scientific-analysis-of-civil-war-beards/ Tue, 03 Nov 2015 19:06:17 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5412 How Civil War commanders wore their facial hair, in one chart: More than 90 percent of commanders studied had some kind of facial hair, most sporting either the long beard or the short beard. Very few went with muttonchops or a goatee. However, there were some significant differences between North and South here.

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]]> Meddling Ex-Presidents during the Civil War https://daniellazar.com/2015/08/16/meddling-ex-presidents-during-the-civil-war/ Sun, 16 Aug 2015 12:57:27 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5357 When Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861, five former presidents were still alive.Chris DeRose tells how this ex-Presidents’ Club maneuvered, plotted, advised, and aided during the Civil War. DeRose’s book The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and The Civil War That Divided Them explores the stories of the ex-presidents who remained active, influential, and occasionally … Continue reading Meddling Ex-Presidents during the Civil War →

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]]> Donald Trump in an Historical Perspective https://daniellazar.com/2015/08/05/5301/ Wed, 05 Aug 2015 08:57:37 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5301 We are currently enjoying a master class in the art of political stupidity. Donald J. Trump has been schooling us for some time, but the Iran nuclear deal has touched off a new race to the bottom. Mike Huckabee said the agreement with Iran would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of … Continue reading Donald Trump in an Historical Perspective →

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]]> The Unlikely Paths of Grant and Lee https://daniellazar.com/2015/05/12/the-unlikely-paths-of-grant-and-lee/ Tue, 12 May 2015 06:31:17 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5232 To millions of Americans, 150 years after the end of the Civil War, Lee is a role model and Grant is—despite his gifted generalship and consequential presidency—an embarrassment. What happened? How did the hero of the war become a quasi-ignominious figure, and how did the champion of Southern slavery become, if not the war’s hero, … Continue reading The Unlikely Paths of Grant and Lee →

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]]> What Did Gettysburg Smell Like? https://daniellazar.com/2014/12/12/what-did-gettysburg-smell-like/ Fri, 12 Dec 2014 08:18:04 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5142 Smith’s book forces us to set aside our lofty notions about the war and regard it from a human perspective. “This war was a war about some of the greatest and most noble ideals in American history,” Smith told me in an interview. “This was about freedom, questions of national identity, questions of sovereignty, questions … Continue reading What Did Gettysburg Smell Like? →

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]]> Linclon's Letter to Albert G. Hodges https://daniellazar.com/2014/12/12/linclons-letter-to-albert-g-hodges/ Fri, 12 Dec 2014 08:03:20 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5131 This letter is a summary of a conversation which President Abraham Lincoln had with three Kentuckians: Governor Thomas E. Bramlette, Albert Hodges, and Archibald Dixon. Hodges was the editor of the Frankfort Commonwealth and Dixon served in the U.S. Senate from 1852 to 1855. Bramlette had protested the recruiting of black regiments in Kentucky. The … Continue reading Linclon's Letter to Albert G. Hodges →

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]]> The significance of the Gettysburg Address https://daniellazar.com/2014/07/29/the-significance-of-the-gettysburg-address/ Tue, 29 Jul 2014 07:42:38 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=5041 IN THE AFTERMATH of the Battle of Gettysburg, both sides, leaving fifty thousand dead or wounded or missing behind them, had reason to maintain a large pattern of pretense—Lee pretending that he was not taking back to the South a broken cause, Meade that he would not let the broken pieces fall through his fingers. It … Continue reading The significance of the Gettysburg Address →

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]]> Civil War Helped Make Christmas a Permanent American Tradition https://daniellazar.com/2014/03/16/civil-war-helped-make-christmas-a-permanent-american-tradition/ Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:48:12 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=4880 Thomas Nast was perhaps the most famous artist to marry Christmas and the Civil War [PDF], but other commercial artists of lesser distinction followed suit. This large engraving, by popular Boston publisher Louis Prang & Company, opts for a more positive, universal vision of Christmas spirit across the land. The overflowing frame holds domestic scenes … Continue reading Civil War Helped Make Christmas a Permanent American Tradition →

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