- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
"...while the historiography has traditionally referred to the “Union” in the American Civil War as “the northern states loyal to the United States government,” the fact is that the term “Union” always referred to all the states together, which clearly was not the situation at all. In light of this, the reader will discover that the word “Union” will be largely replaced by the more historically accurate “Federal Government” or “U.S. Government.” “Union forces” or “Union army” will largely be replaced by the terms “U.S. Army,” “Federals,” or “Federal Army.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/corn...2qlMy7ZkmDH0f3BfVthtJi_aIOEpitG_cvu6I7oeOgZPQ
Deep sigh. Is this directive from the Army University Press really necessary? I think this is a very superficial interpretation of these terms, and they completely missed the mark on this one.
The Northern states were fighting to preserve “the Union,” i.e., the United States of America, where the South was in a state of rebellion. The South’s attempt to illegally dissolve the Union via secession and create their own Confederacy was an act that was being put down by force.
In the minds of the rebels, the Union had been dissolved and was no longer together, but in the minds of the Northerners, the concept of the Union still existed and was to be defended.
“The Union forever, hurrah boys, hurrah!” was not referring to just the Northern states. “Down with the traitor, and up with the star,” meant quash the rebellion, raise the star once again in the lands they claimed, and preserve the Union as it was before.
The CSA was a pipe dream in the minds of the rebels--no one else recognized it or supported it. It wasn’t another country, which is why the whole bloody affair is called the Civil War.
The Northern states weren’t fighting to preserve just “the Federal Army” or just the “Union Army” or just the Northern states; the fight was to preserve the Union—all of it.
Mission accomplished.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corn...2qlMy7ZkmDH0f3BfVthtJi_aIOEpitG_cvu6I7oeOgZPQ
Deep sigh. Is this directive from the Army University Press really necessary? I think this is a very superficial interpretation of these terms, and they completely missed the mark on this one.
The Northern states were fighting to preserve “the Union,” i.e., the United States of America, where the South was in a state of rebellion. The South’s attempt to illegally dissolve the Union via secession and create their own Confederacy was an act that was being put down by force.
In the minds of the rebels, the Union had been dissolved and was no longer together, but in the minds of the Northerners, the concept of the Union still existed and was to be defended.
“The Union forever, hurrah boys, hurrah!” was not referring to just the Northern states. “Down with the traitor, and up with the star,” meant quash the rebellion, raise the star once again in the lands they claimed, and preserve the Union as it was before.
The CSA was a pipe dream in the minds of the rebels--no one else recognized it or supported it. It wasn’t another country, which is why the whole bloody affair is called the Civil War.
The Northern states weren’t fighting to preserve just “the Federal Army” or just the “Union Army” or just the Northern states; the fight was to preserve the Union—all of it.
Mission accomplished.