The Republic of Suffering Critical Analysis Essay - Grade: 97% PDF

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The nation of America and its people have struggled for several years to come into terms with death on an unimaginable scale and in Drew Gilpin Faust’s book, This Republic of Suffering, it has proved to demonstrate how the Civil War forever changed the assumptions of many Americans about the concep...

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This Republic of Suffering - Death and the American Civil War

History 6: Political Social History of the United States to 1877 Professor Day May 14, 2017

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The nation of America and its people have struggled for several years to come into terms with death on an unimaginable scale and in Drew Gilpin Faust’s book, This Republic of Suffering , it has proved to demonstrate how the Civil War forever changed the assumptions of many Americans about the concept of death. Faust, who is known as the first woman president of Harvard, is most credible and well-known for her study of Southern history. 1 Faust herself explains how morality is what defines the human condition and explains how death transformed the American nation as well as the hundreds of thousands of individuals that are directly affected by the loss of their loved ones.2 This clearly creates a metaphor for the name of the book, “This Republic of Suffering” that was phrased from Frederick Law Olmsted who saw several soldiers wounded and dying when he arrived at the Union hospital ships on the Virginia Peninsula. 3 Each chapter title is portrayed with vivid words such as: Dying, Killing, Burying, Naming, Realizing, Believing and Doubting, Accounting, Numbering, and Surviving; which implies the ordeal and tragic transformation that took place during and after the Civil War with the invention of new ways to deal with the onslaught of death in the United States.

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Eric Foner, This Republic of Suffering - Book Review http://www.ericfoner.com/reviews/012808nation.html 2 Faust, Drew Gilpin. “This Republic of Suffering : Death and the American Civil War.” New York. Alfred A. Knopf, 2008 . pg. 12 3 Ibid.

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A critic by the name of Richard Wightman Fox wrote an article named “National Life After Death” as a review for the book and he states how Faust provides such important information that displays how many soldiers died during the Civil War and covers how impactful the deaths have impacted America in several ways that could not be described with words. Fox begins his review with introducing the author and gives a her a credible standing with acknowledging that she has been the president of Harvard University since 2007, as well as a leading historian of the American South that provided insightful information about the percentages of all . He then addresses the thousands of deaths that had occurred during the tragic events that occurred during the Civil War, which are not only soldiers but women and children as well. “Thirty thousand Northerners and 26,000 SOutherners died in prisoner-of-war camps--almost 10 percent of all Civil War fatalities. “Contraband camps” set up by the Union Army for African-Americans [for those who fleed] slavery (especially for women, children, and the elderly) experienced mortality rates up to 25 percent.” 4, Fox states as he agrees that Faust is a historian who naturally highlights how there can be differences of gender, class, and race, but there will always be a common cultural unity that revolves around death. Death all-around is a concerning belief to many, and overall created a new American nationalism. In addition, according to the critic, he believes that the Civil War did indeed

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http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2008/01/national_life_after_death.html

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end slavery and was definitely needed in order to officially unite the United States as a whole. Though, religion  itself became an important factor within the Civil War and is one of the longest chapters within the book because the subject extended on the fact that the Civil War casualties were accrued in a time where most people were dominated by Christianity or to be more specific, evangelical Protestantism. 5 A critic with an opposing viewpoint from Fox named Mark E. Neely Jr. states how he “thinks it is a shame, however, that Faust [does] not devote a chapter at least as long strictly to the subject of nationalism, since nationalism, as Benedict Anderson has reminded us, has a crucial quality of concern “with death and immortality,” and ultimately probably offers the most compelling explanation of the Civil War Dead.” 6 Implying how nationalism itself could be implemented throughout Faust’s book more thoroughly and specifically spoken about.

During the mid-19th century, most deaths occurred at home where they would be surrounded by several loved ones and this subsequently created the Victorian concept of Good Death, ars moriendi. 7 This concept required one to be alert and aware, willing to let go, surrounded by family, expressions to one’s faith (most were Christian, so they expressed it to Jesus), and being able to say goodbye. Though, the model of achieving the concept of “Good Death” was difficult to sustain when they were far from home and on

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https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/12399/18505 Ibid. 7 Ibid. pg. 24 6

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the battlefields. 8 In result, there was some accommodations that had to be made and rituals that were developed to substitute the conventional Good Death by having their fellow soldiers, chaplains, military nurses, and doctors ensure that the soldier would not die alone. 9 Though, realistically, it was very difficult to create the model of ars moriendi (Good Death) if there were several soldiers passing away in the hospital beds. Thus, the idea of writing letters and forwarding the letters to their mothers and loved ones arose to address this issue, in case they were to die in battle. 10 However, even though the ideal was to achieve Good Death, models of valor were used such as patriotism, masculinity, and chivalry because most soldiers had to prepare and be willing to die according to Faust.11 This is comparable to those who die in battle in the modern era, where it is thought that these soldiers have died heroically to serve the great country of America. At first, several people estimated that there would only be a few deaths but soon, there was an emphasis about the transportation of all dead soldiers. The military and their fellow soldiers would transport the dead home and provide elaborate traditional burials for each individual. However, with the rise of number and statistics of dead soldiers, it overwhelm the theory about the number of deaths that would occur during the long 4 years of the Civil War. Officers were more likely to receive formal and marked

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Ibid. pg. 26 Ibid. 10 Ibid. pg. 32 11 Ibid. pg. 21 9

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interment, and sometimes their comrades took responsibilities for burying their friends. As numbers of those who died increased, military units usually “cleaned up” after a battle, often as a disciplinary measure. Soon allies and enemies came to be buried in common unmarked graves, usually not together. Officers and those who were enlisted were usually buried separately as well, but as soldiers kept dying, common graveside services or none at all became common for both those of higher and lower rank. Whether if it happened on the Union or Confederate side, this was still highly recognized. To put into perspective of how many people died, “hundred of thousands of men… more than 40 percent of deceased Yankees and a far greater proportion of Confederates - perished without names, identified only… by the significant work UNKNOWN,” as Walt Whitman 12 explained. Soldiers themselves really had no official identification nor documentation, so there was not a uniform way of identifying a soldier’s body. In addition, Faust herself also gives incredible insight on the human thought process and how war itself affects it. Though, Eric Foner states in his book “Give me Liberty!” how not only were the soldiers affected, but several people who were not involved with the war was persuaded by “a vast propaganda effort to mobilize public opinion. In the Union, an outpouring of lithographs, souvenirs, sheet music, and pamphlets issued by patriotic organizations and the War Department reaffirmed northern

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Faust.. pg. 121

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values, tarred the Democratic Party with the brush of treason, and accused the South of numerous crimes against Union soldiers and loyal civilians. Comparable items appeared in the Confederacy [as] [well].” 13 This caused a huge outbreak, not only in the war but society itself. Overall, the intended purpose throughout this book was to inform several people about how the deaths of the Civil War affected several people throughout the war, and exemplifies several important factors that played hand in hand from embalming to spiritualism and the changes of views within religion, patriotism, chivalry and masculinity. Faust herself also asserts practices of Good Death and describes how fellow soldiers, civilians, and even politicians all felt a strain to shape America as a whole because of how shook the war made them feel.

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 Eric Foner, “Give me liberty!: an American history”, New  York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2008; pg. 514.

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Bibliography Eric Foner, “Give me liberty!: an American history”, New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2008 Eric Foner, “This Republic of Suffering: Death and the Civil War” Book Review, The Nation . 28 January, 2008. http://www.ericfoner.com/reviews/012808nation.html Richard Wightman Fox, “National Life After Death - This Republic of Suffering Book Review”. Slate. 01 January, 2008. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2008/01/national_life_after_death.html Faust, Drew Gilpin. “This Republic of Suffering : Death and the American Civil War.” New York. Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Mark E. Neely Jr. “This Republic of Suffering Review by Drew Gilpin Faust.” Indiana Magazine of History, 2008. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/12399/18505...