Disunion

About a month ago, I came across the Disunion blog.  Each day, there is an article that follows the Civil War as it unfolded 150 years ago.  You can read the first post, Will Lincoln Prevail?, to see the purpose.  I don't get a chance to read every article, but I have it bookmarked and try to skim a few articles, maybe reading in detail one per week.  I do enjoy learning about history, especially when it involves new perspectives.  (But I will admit that I hated certain parts of Western Civ, like memorizing all the dates and names.  I once wrote a short essay on a test while at Furman, where I had no idea about which rulers were involved in a battle between England and France, so I guessed "King Henry" and "King Louis."  I thought that was as good a guess as any, but my prof disagreed.)

One of my favorite posts has been A Slaveholder's Diary, which includes excerpts from an elderly widow plantation owner, who lived just outside of Columbia, SC.  Without unpacking the entire article, I will say that it was interesting to hear this lady's thoughts and struggles and confusion, between owning slaves and not wanting to change status quo, and her apparent devotion to the Lord. 

Another article, The Assassin's Debut, discusses the sudden stardom of the actor John Wilkes Booth in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1860.  It was just down the road from the Montgomery Theatre that Rosa Parks boarded that infamous bus, also on December 1, exactly 95 years later.

I hope you get a chance to check out at least a few of the articles.