A History Teacher Visits Antietam

In my day job (when I am not thinking about professional wrestling, or guitars, or rock music, or movies, or other distractions) I am a history teacher and college counselor at Wyoming Seminary, a boarding school in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I have previously written about my teaching, and with the 2014-15 school year right around the corner, the time seemed right to do so again.  Last week my wife Courtney and I took a trip to the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.  It was extremely educational and quite thought provoking. It really showed me that reading about someplace for years doesn't prepare me for (or replace) visiting it in person. What follows are some impressions and pictures. 

The Battle of Antietam was one of the most significant events in the first century of our country. It put a stop to Robert E. Lee's first attempted invasion of the northern states, guaranteeing that the Civil War (then about a year and a half old) would continue on. It was the single bloodiest day in American history; more men were killed, wounded, captured or went missing on September 17, 1862 than in all of the United States' previous wars combined. It is also fitting that a battle that took place 73 years to the day after the ratification of the Constitution (during a war to preserve the Constitution) led to the most important amendments to the Constitution (the 13th, 14th and 15th, also known as the Civil Rights Amendments or the Reconstruction Amendments). The Confederate retreat at Antietam gave Abraham Lincoln the political support to issue the seceded states an ultimatum: return to the Union status quo ante by January 1, 1863 or have their slaves become "forever free". The Emancipation Proclamation was momentous in the short term (by making the war explicitly one to free the slaves, European countries like France and Britain were no longer willing to intercede on behalf, or even officially recognize the existence of the Confederacy) and in the long term.  As Civil War historian Bruce Catton wrote in 1958:

"What America is and hopes to be dates from the fight along Antietam Creek. The fight cost an enormous number of lives, and inflicted pain and disability on many thousands more; but in the infinite economy of the advance of the human race it may have been worth what it cost." 

I've occasionally used this battle as a jumping off point for a group project in my history classes; having had the chance to see the battlefield in person I know that I will do so again this year. 

The battlefield and cemetery are run by the National Park Service, and they do a fantastic job. The Visitor Center is located atop a hill that provides panoramic views of the surrounding fields, which the Park Service leases to local farmers to maintain it in a fashion similar to what it was 152 years ago.  

Photo by Courtney Lewis 2014

The Visitor Center has a museum, a lecture hall, a movie theatre and a gift shop. The movie theatre shows a 26 minute movie (© 2010) narrated by James Earl Jones in full "Darth Vader" voice that does a truly excellent job of explaining the battle from military, political and historical perspectives.  It has very good production values, showing Civil War re-enactors on the actual battlefield, with explosions and popping blood capsules to add to the verisimilitude. The store has a great selection of inexpensive books (we bought a dozen for the school library) as well as some rather tasteless apparel, such as an Abraham Lincoln beard and sweatshirts commemorating the battle. When we were there the lecture hall hosted a very interesting talk about the life of Clara Barton (the founder of the American Red Cross assuaged the wounded at Antietam). I'm a history teacher and Courtney worked for the Red Cross for several years but we both learned some things from the lecture. The audience seemed made up of "Civil War buffs"; I saw one lady nodding enthusiastically whenever familiar names were mentioned, and a man was very put out when the speaker referred to "coming back from Antietam" (under his breath he huffed "or Sharpsburg!").

After the lecture we wandered about on foot for a bit.  A few hundred yards away were the cornfields through which Union and Confederate soldiers marched and died when the battle began at 5:30am. We went on August 10th, so the sight must have been pretty similar to what they saw on September 17th; the corn was high and would have hidden the movement of the men pretty well.  Here are a couple of more pictures:

Cannon facing the cornfields. Photo by Courtney Lewis 2014

View from the cannon. Photo by Courtney Lewis 2014

It was rather spooky looking at the cornfield having just seen the movie version of the slaughter that took place on the site so long ago. I am not a believer in the supernatural, but I felt conscious of a certain weightiness there.  Over 40,000 men were part of the battle (along with unnumbered horses and other beasts of burden). All around the battlefield are plaques explaining which soldiers camped or were stationed at various sites. To think of these men marching in on the 16th, knowing (at least generally) what was in store the following day; trying to imagine how hard it must have been to sleep that night, to wake up before dawn to muster and begin the march through the corn was very heavy indeed. 

The cornfield also made me think of "The Veteran in a New Field", a powerful painting by Winslow Homer from 1865.  I use this painting in my class when I teach students how to interpret visual images. Part of the meaning of the painting is that the former soldier, who was recently reaping a different, bloody harvest in other fields has returned home to resume his life as a family, wading away from his past, leaving his army canteen (and the bad memories of the war) behind him. 

Photo by Courtney Lewis 2014

After the cornfield we moved to the Sunken Road, which became known as the "Bloody Lane" as it filled up with piles of dead men, first the Union forces who approached it from above (and were sitting ducks) and later Confederate soldiers after being outflanked. In three hours 5,500 men were killed or wounded, the road incarnadined from their blood. At the suggestion of one of the park rangers we walked along the path to be able to better picture the sight lines that the soldiers would have seen.  It is hard to imagine the terror that people on both sides must have experienced here. Whether the Union soldiers charging pell-mell toward an entrenched force with comrades falling left and right or the Confederates watching hundreds of armed men charging with violent intent while armed with a single shot rifle, it must have been horrible. Here are some pictures, first some historical ones (thanks to the NPS website) followed by some from our visit:

This is a sketch of the Sunken Road that appeared in contemporary magazines.

Alexander Gardner took this photo of dead Confederates in the Sunken Road days after the battle.

Photo by Courtney Lewis 2014

Photo by Courtney Lewis 2014

After the Sunken Road we got in our car and drove to other significant landmarks.  The Park Service has installed very unobtrusive (yet clear) directional signs telling drivers where to turn, keyed to a map that shows where everything is.  We also bought a CD and book that narrates each of the sites; I highly recommend it. One of our next stops was an observation tower.  It is located on a hill, and to reach the top requires climbing 71 winding steps.  But the views are quite breathtaking (climbing 71 steps is breathtaking too, but in a different way):

Photo by Ethan Lewis 2014

Photo by Ethan Lewis 2014

Photo by Ethan Lewis 2014

After climbing down from the tower we drove to the Burnside Bridge. 500 Confederate soldiers repulsed several attacks from 5000 Union soldiers at great cost here (the Federals were led by Gen. Ambrose Burnside, whose unique facial hair gave us the word "sideburns").  It is an exceptionally bucolic place. I couldn't help but be struck by the conflict between the glories of nature's beauty and the ugliness of human brutality. As before, some historical images followed by one of Courtney's pictures:

A sketch from a contemporary magazine

The bridge from the Confederate side by Alexander Gardner 1862

The bridge from the Confederate side by Courtney Lewis 2014

There is much more to see; we were at the park for several hours but it deserves more time. The park is open every day (except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's or during a government shutdown) but as I mentioned before, I think that a visit in August or September would give the best impression.  Having seen the excellent preservation of Antietam I would like to go to other Civil War battlefields--Gettysburg is relatively close, I'll probably go there next.  

The park is beautiful, but there is a sadness permeating the area. It has made me think a lot about the war and its impact on the people who lived through it. Just a couple of days before our visit I read an article that summarized a recent study showing that American veterans of the Vietnam War who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) still experienced the symptoms 40 years later, and that they had a higher than average death rate compared to their age group. As I tell my students, even though "psychology" as we know it wasn't invented yet, people in olden days still experienced (and reacted to) events the way we do today. It is hard to imagine living in the America of the decades following the 1860's.  Millions of Civil War veterans (many suffering from wounds and illness), millions of former slaves (victims of unspeakable violence and exploitation) and millions of people mourning the loss of loved ones all had to deal with the psychological aftermath of the conflict. Yet despite this, in many cases efforts were made to heal these wounds (though often at the expense of black American freedom) in the following decade. By the early years of the 20th century, former Confederates and former Union soldiers met on the battlefields of their youths, as you can can see in the following video:

It occurs to me that America's relatively easy recovery following the Civil War (restoration of essentially the same political system; rapid growth into a world economic power, and peace between the North and South for a century before the upheaval of the Civil Rights era) may have to do with the nature of the war.  At least at some level it was a political war for most of the participants. Contrast that with the violent upheaval going on in the world today, so many of which are religious or cultural. I think that those kind of divisions and hatreds are harder to overcome.  I can't easily imagine a park ranger in Fallujah in 150 years saying (to paraphrase our ranger at Antietam): "those Shiite boys and the Sunni boys sure fought hard here". 

I am very glad that I had the chance to visit Antietam.  If you have been there, or to a similar historic location, I'd love to read your comments. 

Notes From The Classroom, pt. II--Civil War Casualties

As I mentioned in my last post, I spend a lot of time teaching my high school students about the American Civil War.  Or, to be more accurate, I should say "the Civil War era".  As I tell them on the first day of the school year, I'm a pacifist, and I don't like war.  As a result, I spend a lot of time talking about life during wartime, and the effects of wars on American society, but not a lot of time on the "bang bang, shoot shoot" part.  This usually disappoints a few students (mostly boys) but of course I still make time to cover certain major battles as well as key military leaders and their tactics, so even the more "bloodthirsty" kids have something to look forward to.

This past week I taught the kids about the scale of Civil War casualties, as well as the terrible conditions faced by soldiers of that era, especially those who were wounded in battle. When I teach this class, I have several goals in mind; first, to put the event into a global perspective, and second, to try to relate the information to the wars the United States have been fighting for most of their lives.

I find it helpful to put the Civil War into a global perspective for a couple of reasons.  Primarily, since I teach students from all over the world (my school draws from over 20 nations) I don't want to seem chauvinistic.  And secondly, if I am successful in driving home the point that the Civil War was the most significant event in our nation's history, it stands to reason that civil wars in other countries are equally important.  I start the class by sharing the following facts with the class:

• 3,000,000 soldiers (USA and CSA) fought in the Civil War, which was about 10% of the total population. 

• Approximately 620,000 soldiers died in the war (about 2% of the total population). An equivalent today would be  six million deaths.

I then share the casualty totals of some significant 20th Century civil wars for comparison:

• Russian Civil War (1917-21): 8.8 million
• Chinese Civil War (1927-49): approximately 6 million
• Korean War (1950-53): over 3 million

These numbers typically elicit a strong response, but someone usually raises the significant differences between 19th and 20th century technology.  So I mention that contemporary with the US Civil War was the Taiping Rebellion in China. This civil conflict lasted from 1850-1864 and claimed at least 20 million lives. 

After this perspective, I try to make a comparison to something with which they should be familiar, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.  At this point I am teaching students who were only four or five years old in 2001, so their recollections are naturally hazy.  But they are quite aware that 9/11 changed their world. Nearly 3,000 people died that day (with many more dying since then, especially rescue workers at Ground Zero).   Our country was horrified by the carnage in 2001, but (thank God) nothing similar has happened to America since then.  But imagine living here 150 years ago.  In the space of four and a half months in 1863, the following battles took place (among others): 

Chancellorsville, Virginia: May 1-4 1863: 30,099 casualties (17,278 USA / 12,821 CSA)

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: July 1-3 1863: 51,112 casualties (23,049 USA / 28.063 CSA)

Chickamauga, Georgia:Sept. 19-20 1863: 32,624 casualties (16,170 USA / 18,464 CSA)

and that was after two hard years of war, with another year and a half to go.  I ask the students to consider what it must have been like to live in the country back then.  I imagine that people must have been almost in a state of shock.  Everyone must have known someone connected to the war and the tension of never knowing when a loved one's name would show up in the newspaper's death rolls must have been terrible. 

And that is a useful point of contrast to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have gone on for most of  my students' lives. According to The New York Times, during the last decade, less than 1% of the total population has been on active military duty, compared to 9% during WWII and 10% in the Civil War. This makes it easier for people to have an "out of sight, out of mind" approach to war.  

I also spend time discussing medical science and technological advances in the last 150 years.  We talk about how wounds to the extremities were the most common injury in the Civil War, and that most resulted in amputation.  After grossing the students out with discussions of the highly septic conditions of operating rooms 150 years ago, I ask if they know what the most common injuries are for American soldiers today. According to Catherine Lutz of Brown University, [.pdf] they fall into four categories:

• Traumatic Brain Injury:  A Rand report in 2008 found 19 percent of returning service members reported having experienced a possible traumatic brain injury...Whatever the true number, TBI cases range from severe, penetrating TBI to the more common mild TBI which can display itself in psychosocial dysfunction, seizures, irritability and aggression, depression, confusion and memory loss.

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Mental injuries, including PTSD, have also been common.  The Veterans  Administration reported 192,114 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had been diagnosed with PTSD through the end of 2010, with these numbers, however, excluding anyone diagnosed and treated outside the VA system...Several features of these two wars have made emotional and cognitive impairment more common, including multiple and extended deployments with less rest between deployments (39 percent of all soldiers who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan have had two or more deployments, even after wounding, and more exposure to handling body parts and seeing friends killed, surviving with more grievous wounds, and higher rates of  TBI.  Other predictors for PTSD include “killing of innocent bystanders, or having to  witness such killings without the ability to intercede, [which] is also associated with more intense psychiatric manifestations. This is of significant concern due to the large numbers  of civilians killed during this current conflict by both coalition forces and the insurgency.”

• Amputation:  More soldiers survive their wounds now than ever before in human history. The widespread use of body armor protecting the vital organs has also  meant an unusually high number of wounded soldiers with multiple amputations (including limbs and genitals) and complex combinations of injuries, including burns,  blindness and deafness, and massive facial injuries.  According to the Army Office of the Surgeon-General, there were 1,621 amputations among US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and “unaffiliated conflicts” through September 1, 2010. Half of these were caused by  improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Blast injuries from IEDs often combine penetrating, blunt, and burn injuries. IED shrapnel can include nails, dirt, and clothing and create enough small wounds to exsanguinate the victim. There has also been a high incidence of blinding injuries. 

• Spinal Cord Injury: US News reports that  "explosions are the main cause of spine injuries among wounded U.S. military personnel...Researchers analyzed more than eight years of data on back, spinal column and spinal cord injuries suffered by American military personnel serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Of nearly 11,000 evacuated casualties, about 600 (nearly 5.5 percent) had a total of more than 2,100 spinal injuries. Explosions accounted for 56 percent of spine injuries, motor vehicle collisions for 29 percent and gunshots for 15 percent, the study found. In 17 percent of spine injuries, the spinal cord also was injured. Fifty-three percent of gunshot wounds to the spine led to a spinal cord injury. 

One of my students pointed out that it is a shame that since so many injuries are "invisible" it will be hard to recognize and thank these veterans for their service to the country.  I thought that was an excellent example of being able to discuss "current events" in the context of a history class.  Thanks for reading!

Notes From The Classroom, Pt. I-Slavery Footprint

So in my day job I teach American history (and since I work at a boarding school, it is often my night job as well). One of my classes is a survey course on U.S. history.  I believe that it is impossible to understand America without understanding the Civil War, so every year in the winter I spend about seven weeks covering the Civil War (about four weeks on the lead-up to the war, and the rest on the conflict itself) followed by another two weeks on Reconstruction (you can see my full syllabus for details).  Most of my students are 10th and 11th graders and I strive to try to make the material that we cover relevant to their daily lives.  As the slogan on my history webpage says, we study history to make sense of our world today. 

This week we covered the midpoint of the war.  The students wrote an essay evaluating whether Lincoln or the slaves themselves deserve the most credit for emancipation, and we also discussed the Gettysburg Address.  It also helps that the movie Lincoln has been so well-received this winter; my school took all of our students to see the film, which led me to write a "who's who" of the characters.  Because this month is the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, numerous articles have been published discussing the significance of that landmark declaration.   One article that I found especially compelling, entitled "How Many Slaves Work For You?"  was in the New York Times on Dec. 31, 2012.  In it, Louis Masur, a history professor at Rutgers proposed that it was time for a new Emancipation Proclamation one "written for our times".  

Masur draws our attention to the problem of human trafficking, which President Obama has correctly identified as modern slavery.  Estimates are that up to 27 million people worldwide are enslaved right now; these people are exploited for their labor and their bodies.  "Trafficking" can include forced labor, bonded labor, debt bondage among migrant workers, child labor, involuntary domestic servitude and sex trafficking.  I don't usually share my personal viewpoints with my students, but I have traditionally revealed that I consider the kidnapping and sale of 13.5 million Africans from roughly 1450-1850 the worst thing ever.  But twice that many people are enslaved right now!  

Masur linked to a very provocative website , slaveryfootprint.org.  The site uses clever animations and informative blurbs to educate visitors about the scope of human trafficking, and more importantly, to show how our modern Western lifestyles benefit from the labor of the victims of modern slavery.  When I took the test I was told: 

So this week I shared the site with my students, asking them to take the survey for homework, and to write a response.  I was very interested to see what they would say.  I teach at a private school, where many of the students come from relatively privileged backgrounds.  Further, I have students from 8 different countries in my classes (our school draws from over 20 nations).  The responses were quite gratifying:  the students took the project seriously, and several wrote deeply meaningful responses.

One American boy wrote: 

Upon completion of the slavery activity I found that I have 102 slaves working for me. The main contributers to this score included, in order, Lightbulbs, Ibuprophen, Cars, T-shirts, and Ballpoint pens. 

This number is very disappointing. The number of companies involved with slavery was quite extensive. This activity proved the reality of slavery. Slavery is still a major issue in not only foreign countries but also in our homeland. Human trafficking is a major issue in the US as well as around the world. This activity has shown me that people are still living under slave-like conditions and that there are options to end this maltreatment.... The US is a leading cause of the slavery in these areas because of our demand for their products. If the US and other countries refused to buy products manufactured by slaves the slaves would be freed form their bondage....I feel that the Slave Footprint activity was a great way to relate how slavery was back then and how it is now since these periods are very similar and require the same legislation and human effort to end slavery. 

An American girl wrote:

63 slaves work for me.  

This is a great program. It makes it visually appealing so anyone would be interested in taking the survey, and it's really eye-opening.  Even if it doesn't make people give away anything or stop buying anything, at least they can have a greater appreciation for what they have. 

A Chinese boy wrote:

The place I chose was not Shanghai, instead, I chose my hometown Zhengzhou. It is a city in northern China. It is no doubt that China is the “World Factory”. 60% of commodities we use have the label of “Made in China”. It is true that Chinese economy booms and people think that Chinese people are getting rich. It is true that the families which can send their kids to our school are already rich. Radically speaking, it is also true that those families are those 5% people who hold 90% of the wealth of China. 

I was born in a very little town in northern China and I knew what the circumstance it was ten years ago. My father only had two hundred dollars when he got out from college and those money were his entire family property. 10 years, things changed. From a little town without more than 20 apartments and fancy cars to crowded shiny business buildings and Mercedes and BMW cars. People do become rich; however, does everyone get rich? Absolutely not. There is a lot to say the negative impact of the increasing economy. So I decided to pick one example. I am an electronic geek. Computers, headphones, speakers, cameras and programing equipment are my favorite. Apparently 95% of them are made in China. Every Chinese knows a company knows a company called Foxconn. My home town Zhengzhou has the largest Foxconn factory in China. I believe every student at least owns one product from Foxconn. If you flip your iPhone or Macbook, you will read: “Designed by California. Assembled in China”. Foxconn, the largest electronics assembler on the earth. People believe their iPhones were made by machines and robots. True, but only 5% of the jobs are done by machines. The other 95% percent of the work are entirely done by hands. The workers in Foxconn only have the wages 1600 Chinese Yuan (240 USD) per month. 

Nowadays slavery is given  a new definition. Those “slaves” are free. They can talk they can do whatever they want. However, their wages do not equal to the amount of work. An American can make at least 7 dollars an hour but for those workers they can only make 7 dollars a day (12 hours working). I traveled from one of the poorest town on the earth to New York and this is what I do several times. It is very frustrating once you have this kind of experience. 

A Vietnamese girl wrote:

After I did the survey I got the result that approximately 42 slaves worked for me. Although the survey is not 100% correct, it does reflect the truth that slavery exists within modern society and in our daily life. By looking at the estimated number of “slaves” working for us from Slavery Footprint, it seems hard to believe that somewhere in the world people still have to suffer from social inequality. Last November, I had the chance to join the simulation of the UN Human Rights Council at Brown’s Model UN conference. One of the three topics I had to work on that time was the issue of unpaid bondage in Southeast Asia. In the process of preparing for the conference and writing up my position papers, I had the opportunity to read a lot of articles and useful information on unpaid bondage....According to the International Labor Organization, there are about 20.9 million victims at any time. I was totally shocked the first time I saw that number in ILO’s report. More surprisingly, 11.7 million of them, making up about 56% of the total, are from the Asia and Pacific region. These numbers should alert people about the seriousness of this issue. This is the consequence of social hierarchy and the lack of legal protections in this region....Anyway, I think that everyone should be aware of this issue and take it seriously. Moreover, we should all maybe avoid using products that are the results of forced labors. Although the issue of modern slavery requires long-term solutions, I believe that small changes can make a huge difference! 

An American daughter of Indian immigrants wrote:

My slavery footprint was 51 slaves.  This made me sad.  I know--or at least I have a general idea--of who they might be, where they might come from.  I've seen the kind of people that might be forced to work under slavish conditions, sat in taxis driving by them.  I've listened to them beg and been told not to get too close.  In India, giant megacities like Kolkata and Bombay they are everywhere.  Except for the malls--those are gleaming white things with security guards at the doors, meant strictly for the rising middle class.   

...I sit in some aunt's house  and I listen and I watch.  And there are people who aren't slaves, who technically are paid, but still... 

[My grandparent's house], it's normal by our standards but for them it's huge.  So there's a woman who comes and cleans the rooms and does other chores.  After a week of staying with them, we took a train back to Kolkata...The tickets might have cost a few hundred rupees (rupees are 40-50 to a dollar).  I was told that the train tickets were equivalent to one month's salary for the woman.  Not quite slavery, but not the ideal life either... 

And how to respond to this sort of thing?  It might be possible for people to cut back on some products associated with slaves, but not completely.  Inequality has been a part of the world since the beginning of time.  And we're all just teenagers.  What can we do?  So yes, it made me sad.  

 These responses are only a few examples.  I feel proud that I was able to make the students aware of a serious issue, and that I was able to do it in a "holistic" way that meshed with the syllabus and was a natural outgrowth of the historical material.  As a follow-up, I also shared the following links with the class:

• 20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking, from the U.S. State Department. 
• How You Can Help, from HumanTrafficking.org
• Made In A Free World, a tumblr blog from the slaveryfootprint.org people. 
• 10 Things Men and Boys Can Do To Stop Human Trafficking, from Ms. Magazine
• List of Goods Made By Child Labor or Forced Labor, from the U.S. Labor Department [.pdf]

Feel free to share this with your children, your worship communities and your friends.  Hopefully if more of us have our consciousness raised we will be able to make a contribution to curbing this scourge.  As Prof. Masur wrote at the conclusion of his article, "today we should celebrate the extraordinary moment in the nation’s history when slavery yielded to freedom. But the work must continue. For those who insist they would have been abolitionists during the Civil War, now is the chance to become one."