American Civil War

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The American Civil War

Michel Foucault advances the idea that history always has many interpretations due to lack of objectivity. There are many examples of such instances in history, case in point the American Civil War. This war came about due to ta number of the southern states calling for secession from the Union to form the Confederacy. The role of President Abraham Lincoln is particularly misunderstood in the war. Even before he came to power, the southerners who were predominantly Democrats sold the idea that he would split the Union and that he would be far willing to override the Constitution in carrying out his duties. This was a fallacy peddled as Lincoln was very much against the secession and believed in the unity of the Union arguing it was enshrined in the Constitution. Slave demand was very high in southern states due to the vast cotton fields that required manual labor to harvest for the major European markets. The southerners were irked by the fact that slavery remained a huge problem to them compared to the Republican northerners who were in government and were supposedly inconsiderate to their plight. This proved to be untrue as President actually signed the Emancipation Proclamation twice, in 1862 and 1863, with a view of ensuring slaves were freed. This was done after numerous battles that went on for around four years and were characterized by their high casualties. The president actually signed it, to demonstrate his executive power while being careful to do so within the guidelines the Constitution. This further disproved the allegations leveled against him further. This therefore gives the impression that the American Civil war was viewed differently due to party affiliations and this distorted the facts due to lack of objectivity while discussing it.

References

Ritter, C. F., & Wakelyn, J. L. (Eds.). (2014). Leaders of the American Civil War: A Biographical and Historiographical Dictionary. Routledge.Dudziak, M. L. (2011). Cold war civil rights: Race and the image of American democracy. Princeton University Press.