The Civil War has brought many images, words, and sounds into popular culture. The Confederate Battle Flag remains a highly controversial symbol of the South and of rebellion. Places like Gettysburg and Antietam are now almost national shrines. The Lincoln Memorial has a commanding place in Washington, D.C. to remind the country of the great deeds of the 16th President. More books have been written about the Civil War than any other event in U.S. history.

Civil War in Photographs

The Civil War is the first major American conflict to be photographed. The technology to make a photograph was just becoming perfected in the years before the war. In particular, the photographs of Mathew Brady have become particularly famous. Click on the thumbnails below to view some of Brady's work. When you are finished viewing them, answer the reflection question in your notes.

Confederate dead behind a stone wall at Fredericksburg	Wilderness, near Chancellorsville, Virginia	Battery (cannons) in action at Fredericksburg, VA

→ Reflection: What do the above photographs reveal about the fighting of the Civil War that descriptions in a journal or paintings cannot? Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

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The photographs, while not the vividly detailed pictures taken today, offer a visual of battlefield conditions as they actually were. They complement textual descriptions and provide realism in a way that a painting cannot. A painting or a journal entry is based on a person's interpretation of the events. A photograph presents the scene as it existed, although it still needs to be interpreted by the viewer to extract meaning.

Civil War in Song

The Civil War is well remembered in song. The great Southern march, Dixie, remains a standard song of almost every marching band in the South today. Both the North and the South have their own version of a march called The Battle Cry of Freedom (to hear the differences, go to the Union version and the Confederate version.

The most memorable song from the conflict is a tune written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. You may not have heard the whole version of the song. Watch it being performed by clicking on the link below. As you view the video, compare the themes of the song to Lincoln's second inaugural address.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

→ Final Reflection: How could both sides use essentially the same songs? Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

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Both sides in the Civil War believed they were supporting the same basic values of the United States, even in rebellion. The North was fighting for the freedom of slaves and to keep its democracy together, while the South was fighting for independence. With their shared history, it is not surprising that they responded to the same music.