Does the availability of photographs significantly change what we can know about the U.S. Civil War - Essay Example

Effect of Pictures on Understanding of American Civil War Effect of Pictures on Understanding American Civil War Introduction According to American history, Great civil war erupted in America in the year 1861 and ran out through the year 1865. The war primarily was based upon the survival of the union of confederacy independence. Some seven states out of thirty-four states in the south where slavery dominated declared to secede from the United States to form Confederate States of America. They called it the South or the Confederacy.

Confederacy expounded its boundaries and added four more territories and still claimed other three together with other western states. However, Confederacy was not diplomatically known by other countries. The other states that had not seceded were known as the North or the union. The civil war erupted from the slavery issues and the fact that slavery had been extended to the west. This internal conflict that came to be the great civil war led to the loss of 600000 Confederate and the Union soldiers and great destruction of the southern infrastructure.

It continued for four years after which the Confederacy was finished, and slavery abolished. Then followed the reconstruction of the United States as one nation, reconstruction of the south and restoring unity. The freed slaves were promised to be given equal rights (civil rights.) Abraham Lincoln, who took the presidency of America in 1860 elections, was opposed by the drivers of slavery, and his name did not appear on the southern ballots (Brown & Shannon, 2011).Effect of picturesBut a different view is created in the people as they come into contact with the pictures that were taken or developed during that time.

The picture vividly portrays many truths and shocking facts about the American civil war either drawn by those who experienced or capture on cameras. The advancement of the American civil war can be viewed through a scientific field that was taking its roots at that age. This is photography. From the national archives, over 6000 digitized photos from the civil war are now available on the internet. Great works were done by Matthew Brady and his associates. They photographed many areas, battlefields and people affected by the civil war.

Their pictures significantly depict many aspects of the war excluding the battle itself. These aspects include the events and preparation prior to the battle, camp life, routines and the aftermath of the battle. The battlefield movements were difficult to be taken as the cameras of that time require the object to be still during the movement of the shutter (Brown & Shannon, 2011).Pictures from this time as taken by Matthew Brady and his associates have given rise to some special study groups who have interest in unveiling the happenings of the civil war to help in some field in the life of the united states.

The study of war journals and also the artefacts from the American civil war has led to the development of a group of people found in the east coast who indulge in performing the civil war re-enactments. Film makers in the United States have also benefited in the photography in that they are now able to regenerate and develop an exact scene of the American civil war in movies (an example is the Gettysburg and Glory) and developing geographic documentaries that accompanies a detailed description of the civil war.

This creation of the civil war using the modern cinematography enables the filling of the gaps that the ancient technology left on the battlefield (Brown & Shannon, 2011).Therefore, a clear picture of the events of the civil war has been developed and changed the thought that people had of the war that was not to detail.ReferencesBrown, V. B., & Shannon, T. J. (2011). Going to the Source, Volume I: To 1877: The Bedford Reader in American History. New York: Bedford/St. Martins.