Murder of Westerman as a Catalyst of the American Civil War Cruelty - Coursework Example

Westerman and Civil War Introduction Civil War is certainly the most lethal war in the history of America which also persists in the contemporary American society. The impact and happenings of American Civil War were significantly more brutal than the destruction of World War I. The American Civil War began in year 1861, and it was ended in year 1865. However, the destruction and killings during the period of these five years were substantially more than any other war in American history. In this Civil War, the Southern states of America (the slave states at that time) formulated an alliance against the Northern States which are known as the Union. The alliance of Southern slave states were named as Confederate States of America, and this alliance was a result of secession of slave states from Northern American States. There are many books that have narrated the brutal and significant events of Civil War; however, Tony Horwitz’s book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War is a considerably appropriate and successful book in which Horwitz has narrated the events in contemporary and personal context. In describing the Civil War Horwitz wrote that, “Historians are fond of saying that the Civil War occurred in 10,00 places. Poke a pin in a map of the South and you're likely to prod loose some battle or skirmish or other tuft of Civil War history” [Ton10]. The storytelling acquired by the author illuminates the criticality and impact of Civil War in contemporary American Society (3-27). In the Civil War, the murder of Michael Westerman who was a supporter of confederates is considered as one of the most significant events which had intensified the Civil War. This paper will discuss the event of the assassination of Westerman, and it will also explicate the happenings in response to this murder. It is also aimed to describe the social and emotional reasons for the murder of Westerman along with reasons which intensified the war after the murder of Westerman in the light of Horwitz narration in his book Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. Event Michael Westerman was during a journey with his wife Hannah just after she gave birth to twin children. Westerman was driving a red pickup truck on which a confederation flag was mounted. He was in the Todd County which is a county located in Kentucky. Kentucky was not declaredly a part of Confederation States of America; however, there were many significant similarities present in the conduct of Kentucky with the ideals of Confederation States. Westerman stopped at a gas station for refilling the fuel in his vehicle. At the gas station, there was a group of black teenager who noticed the Westerman’s vehicle with a confederation flag mounted on it which the group of black American teenagers considered as an offence (89-91). The Confederation flag was considered offensive because of the ideology of racial inequality that the Confederation States followed. Westerman was followed by the group of black teenagers who harassed him on the road several times. Westerman increased the speed of his vehicle to escape the encounter with the group of teenagers. Westerman did not know that he was being chased by another car driven by black teenagers. As soon as the car came near to Westerman's car, a teenager shot a bullet on his car. The gunshot targeted Westerman, and he was murdered in the middle of the road in Kentucky (90-93). Horwitz metaphorically displays the intensity and brutality of civil war along with his interest in it by stating, “The War’s actual landscape was lush with color and beauty” [Ton10]. Response The murder of Westerman occurred in Kentucky which was prominently a confederation state but had associations with the ideology of Confederation States of America. In response to the murder to Westerman, two of the three guilty black teenagers were sentenced to life in prison. One of the sentenced teenagers was Freddy Morrow who targeted Westerman by which he was killed, and the other teenager was the driver. The intense ideological and practical relationships of the Union and the Confederation States of America were immensely critical in which the incident of Westerman’s murder played a role of a catalyst, especially on the side of Confederation States of America. As mentioned above, Westerman was a supporter of Confederation ideology due to which the feeling of rage and vengeance increased the criticality of Civil War between the Union or Republicans and the Confederation States of America or the Democrats (92-95). Social Reasons The murder of Westerman was underlined with several social reasons that are largely associated with not only the history of America but also the ideologies of the Civil War. The foremost social reason for the murder of Westerman has associations with the persisting trend of racial discrimination between blacks and whites. The social segregation of black and white Americans has illuminated the difference in the two races within one country which were exaggerated to a level of conflict. This conflict caused the murder of a white American that is Westerman by the black teenaged individuals. As Horwitz states that, “There are people one knows and people one doesn't. One shouldn't cheapen the former by feigning intimacy with the latter” [Ton10]. Another social reason was the intensified relationship of two ideologies in America which were the Union’s ideology and the Confederation States of America’s ideology. The supporters of each ideology were directly contradictory to other’s ideology due to which a social divide was congealed. This social divide caused hatred among the people belongs to different ideologies, and the lack of tolerance caused the assassination of Westerman (79-96). The social reason for the response which was the result of Westerman’s murder was the ideological association of Kentucky with the Confederation States of America. However, Kentucky was not declaredly a confederation state, but the ideological bases of Kentucky were largely comprised on the ideology which was held by the Confederation States. Moreover, the sustainability of social order and maintenance of the stature of law caused the sentence to life in prison even though the blacks who attacked Westerman were juveniles (88-90). Emotional Reasons Emotions played a more substantial role than the social reasons in the incident of Westerman’s murder. The suppression of black Americans on the basis of racial discrimination and racial inequality did not only disturb the social order and structure of American society but also gave rise to the emotion of anger in the minds of black Americans. The history of Freddy Morrow, who targeted Westerman and murdered him, was significantly filled with incidents in which he and his family were forced to encounter several difficulties only because of their race (113-121). The intensity can be signified with Tony Horwitz sentence in his book that, “You can see much more detail in the original pictures than you can in books” [Ton10].The emotion of anger (in its more intense form that is vengeance) driven Freddy Morrow to commit the murder of a white man due to this history. In addition, the conflicting ideologies of two primary groups in the Civil War were not entirely based on reason and social conduct, but those ideologies were intrinsically associated with the emotional selves of people. The intensified conflict between the Union and the Confederation states of America was congealed into emotional hatred in each group for the other. This is another emotional lacking of tolerance that led Freddy Morrow to commit a grave crime (87-97). Westerman was a supporter and a part of the Confederation States of America which developed a feeling of belongingness in mutuality. The promotion of Confederation flag was based on emotional association of Westerman with the Confederation States. On the other hand, the intense response by Confederation States and Kentucky’s law were mainly based on emotional attachment with a member of the same group which follows similar principle (91-99). Conclusion Civil War is one of the most brutal and destructive war in the history of the world, and it is the most intense war in the history of America. The incident of Westerman’s assassination is considered as the catalyst by which the intensity of war became more critical and destructive. In the contemporary times, the racial inequality is still persistent in the American society which is certainly a derivative of the enormous Civil War in America. Work Cited Ton10: , (Horwitz 18), Ton10: , (15), Ton10: , (90), Ton10: , (8), Read More