Introduction Civil War forms part of the Curriculum Connections series Each of the six volumes of the set covers a particular aspect of the conflict Home Front and the Economy Behind the Fighting Weapons Tactics and Strategy Politics Battles and Campaigns and People About this set Each volume in Civil War features illustrated chapters providing in-depth information about each subject The chapters are all listed in the contents pages of each book Each volume can be studied to provide a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the conflict However each chapter may also be studied independently Within each chapter there are two key aids to learning that are to be found in color sidebars located in the margins of each page Curriculum Context sidebars indicate to the reader that a subject has a particular relevance to certain key state and national history guidelines and curricula They highlight essential information or suggest useful ways for students to consider a subject or to include it in their studies Glossary sidebars define key words within the text At the end of the book a summary Glossary lists the key terms defined in the volume There is also a list of further print and Web-based resources and a full volume index Fully captioned illustrations play an important role throughout the set including photographs and explanatory maps 4 People
About this book This book includes biographies of the most significant individuals to emerge on both sides during the Civil War It provides concise details of their lives and explains their contribution to the conflict Many of the individuals featured were soldiers The generation of officers who fought for the Union and the Confederacy had much in common Many had formerly been colleagues in the MexicanWar 1846 1848 most had been taught the same tactics by the same instructors at the U S Military Academy at West Point Virginia This volume highlights the battlefield successes that made commanders popular heroes and the disasters that ruined careers There are also articles about the politicians who shaped the course of the war They include Abraham Lincoln whose election triggered the secession crisis in 1861 and Jefferson Davis who once seemed likely to become president of the United States himself but instead became the only president of the Confederacy Many individuals were inspired to become involved in the war in different ways Women played a major role both as spies like Rose O’Neal Greenhow and others who passed on secrets to both sides and as nurses Pioneers such as Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix influenced the development of modern professional nursing services in the United States Meanwhile writers and artists recorded both the details of the conflict and their own reaction to it Introduction 5
