Dangers of the Civil War

The Dangers of the Civil War 1861-1865 Cory Lyons History 10 May 29, 2015 Part 1 The Opening: War is dangerous, and most people do not know the horrors of it unless they were there. We make it out to seem like it’s all just heroes, bullets, guns, and the occasional fist fight but what happened with the deaths and injuries off the battlefield? Looking behind the scenes of the Civil War brings a whole different perspective of how people died in this war. In the Civil War bullets were killers but something else got to the soldiers and hit them silently and that something was disease. Diseases killed two soldiers for every one killed in battle. This was not something that they had signed up for. Post battle injuries had an effect on the country’s population as well. When researching the topic I assumed the medical training and doctors of the war would be standing by to help soldiers in need, yet my assumption was not correct. Diseases and injuries were terrifying and all soldiers feared them. I believe that disease and injury had just as big of an effect during the war as bullets and combat on the battlefield because of deathly diseases spreading throughout the soldiers, injuries getting worse as time went on, and the poor training of the medical corps. This topic matters because although the war was in the past and long before our generation, these people went to war to keep the United States together and to end slavery. We should remember the tragic events and horrible conditions they suffered through and died from just for the Nation’s freedom and equality today. Part 2 The Search: In my research I realized that the amount of primary sources for Civil War diseases is low, but when you find one, they are filled with information that you can use towards your writing. I was getting very frustrated trying to find book sources because there are limited books on the topic of Civil War Diseases. I would find sources on the internet. I tried to find books online which I could then read summaries or specific chapters from books. I used Google books where I could get the beginnings of books to use in my writing. A eureka moment I had is finding the book Civil War Diseases which gave me a great range of things to work with like Civil War hospitals all the way to germs spreading throughout the soldiers camps. Another breakthrough I had during my research process was finding the website civilwar.org which really gave me a lot of information about specific diseases and injuries. Part 3 What I Discovered: Disease was a huge part of the Civil War.(Source B) For every person killed in battle during the war two people were killed of disease. People may know that disease had a huge impact during the war but, what specific diseases had the biggest effect on soldiers during the Civil War? Dysentery was the number one killer during the Civil War tallying up the most deaths out of all the diseases with 95,000 deaths.(Source C) The victims of dysentery had to suffer through severe diarrhea with passage of mucous and blood. Other diseases that had a gigantic impact on the soldiers include (Source A) Typhoid Fever, Ague, Yellow Fever, Malaria, Scurvy, Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, and Small Pox were the main diseases. Some other smaller yet still serious diseases include Chicken Pox, Scarlet Fever, Measles, Mumps, and Whooping Cough. These diseases took the lives of many men who were not expecting disease to control their fate in the war. We know the names of the diseases but what were some of the symptoms of these diseases that were unbearable for both of the armies. (Source D and E) The soldiers would develop headaches, rashes, and delirium to go along with the typhoid fever. People that had gotten Malaria would have to endure a series of shaking and vomiting which left them feeling horrible. Ague was a cycle of sweats and chills that was followed by an extremely high fever. All diseases were similar to these and revolved around them with minor differences but were all awful and scary. The diseases during the war spread through the soldiers and camps like wildfire. There were many different ways to catch the illnesses.(Source A and B) The most common way to get sick during the war were “generally from poor hygiene, not showering.” Just from being dirty the dirt, mud and sweat would pile up on the soldiers and bad germs came with you everywhere you went.(Source I) Some other common ways to catch diseases was from “garbage in camps, filth in sink, overcrowding, weather, certain diet, bugs, lack of surgeons, and dirty water.” All of these things contributed to making soldiers unhealthy. The filth that the soldiers lived in was bottom line disgusting and inhumane. Another huge way to spread diseases was through various insects. Bugs such as “ticks, mosquitoes, lice, and maggots.” These things would crawl, fly, and live on the soldiers where they would spread infected blood and germs that would spread throughout all of the armies in the war. (Source F) Not only did disease have a huge impact on soldiers but, lingering injuries that could potentially get infected and harm the soldiers also was a humongous part of the dangers in the Civil War. (Source H) People made it out of battle alive with damage to their bodies.(Source G) These injuries were mostly gunshot wounds. The gunshot wounds would get infected from the lack of hygiene and they would cause trauma to the soldiers. In the occasion in which a limb was unable to function or it was in horrible condition they would have to be amputated.(Source L and M) Another way these men would suffer after the war was over, or after they were done with their service was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some soldiers made it out of battle alive, yet in horrible shape. They had Civil War Hospitals near by the battlefields where nurses and doctors would do what they could to help save the soldiers and get them back to health.(Source J) These hospital workers although had a good meaning with helping the soldiers, they had to make it very painful for them. If the injury was severe, the medical technology was not advanced enough for simple surgery. If bullet wounds were very bad they would have to physically remove with their fingers or just amputate the limb. Amputations were very common and 25% of all soldiers who had limbs amputated died. Since there were so many amputations performed the nurses and doctors got the nickname “butchers”. Specific injuries during the Civil War were more likely to happen then others. The most common injuries on the body were small metal bullets to the limbs and fractured bones. A more severe injury that was also rather common was a fracture to the skull which surgically was very hard to fix. Broken Jaws and clavicles could also be quite serious.(Source K) Post battle injuries led to 18,000 casualties during the war. 400,150 out of the 620,000 peopled who died in the civil war died from out of battle causes. Although 18,000 post battle injury deaths seems as if it is nothing compared to the larger numbers it still had an effect and took way to many lives than what was necessary. These diseases and injuries were very serious towards the Civil War. I believe that these could have been prevented if the soldiers focused on hygiene and their own wellbeing rather than not caring as much for their own person. Part 4 Growth as a Researcher: During the process of my research paper, I really developed my ability to find good sources that I can plug into to specific spots of my paper. I also learned how to break things down into sections, focusing on each section one by one until each one was developed thoroughly and with a purpose. A third thing I learned which I find rather important in your writing process is to just relax when you are writing. I did not worry about mistakes or other parts of my paper till the end where I went back and edited it. When you are in the middle of your work just try to let the words flow onto the paper, then go back and make your corrections afterwards. Not only did this speed up my writing but it also got me to get a lot of information into my paper and really beef up each paragraph. Ways I might try to expand my knowledge in writing research papers is getting more sources off of the internet. The books and primary sources I found have just as much evidence as the paragraphs and writings I found in passages on the internet. These sources are a lot rarer to find then internet sources but in many cases they have that specific description that you are looking for that you just cannot find anywhere else. Another thing that I may do differently next time is write up a schedule for myself. If I create my own schedule picking days I have available time to write my paper, it will be better and better with each slot of time I spend writing and editing. A final thing that I believe could be a huge difference in writing my paper is after finishing each paragraph, reading it over to make sure it sounds good to the reader of the paper. I began to do this in the middle of my process and found that it helps tremendously. I can find many spelling and grammar mistakes and I can also find other ways to word each sentence. Part 5: Citations A: John D. Billings, What diseases did soldiers get? (National Museum of Civil War Medicine) available at, http://www.civilwar.org/education/pdfs/civil-was-curriculum-medicine.pdf B: John D. Billings, 620,000 soldiers died during the civil war. Two thirds died of disease. Why? (National Museum of Civil War Medicine) available at, http://www.civilwar.org/education/pdfs/civil-was-curriculum-medicine.pdf C: Author Unknown, Dysentery, available at, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery D: Intisar K. Hamidullah, The impact of Disease on the Civil War, available at, http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_10.06.02_u E: Author Unknown, Syphilis. Available at, http://www.ashasexualhealth.org/stdsstis/syphilis/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwgoKqBRDt_IfLr8y1iMUBEiQA8Ua7XZ8znx5_4dFYrogbJh3e2Q5ecInjUPGc1_XBABHjFQIaArzj8P8HAQ F: Ardianne Noe, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Treatment of War Wounds: A Medical Review. Available at, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2706344/ G: U.S. Army Medical Director, Medicines, Stone River Medical Report, Available at, http://ehistory.osu.edu/exhibitions/cwsurgeon/cwsurgeon/stonesriver H: Alfred R. Waud, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington D.C., Wounded Escaping From the Burning Woods of the Wilderness, available at, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004660365/ I: Melissa King, Demand Media, Hygiene in the Civil War, available at, http://classroom.synonym.com/hygiene-civil-war-22222.html J: The Civil Wars Society “Encyclopedia of the Civil War”, Medical Care, Battle wounds, and Disease, available at, http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarmedicine.html K: Harold Holzer, Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, Civil War Casualties, available at, http://www.historynet.com/civil-war-casualties L: C. Keith Wilbur, PG. 40, Civil War Medicine M: C. Keith Wilbur, PG. 49, Civil War Medicine

The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

The revolutions in France during 1830 and 1848 should receive some credit towards the struggle towards greater democracy because without attempting greater democracy they may have never even tried to reach their goal. There were three wars during this time The French revolution of 1830, The Polish Revolution of 1830, and The French Revolution of 1848. They all wanted one thing that was their main goal and that was democracy. During the Polish Revolution they wanted Russia to stop ruling the Polish land and they fought on Poland Territory. They wanted to be their own Country  and didn't like the idea of Russia having power over him. During the French Revolution of 1830 they wanted Charles the 10th to stop ruling they got him out brought in Louis Philippe who pleased the french people. They wanted him off the thrown because he was an absolute monarch and they didn't like the idea of having only one ruler. This is why they revolted then. During the French Revolution of 1848 they wanted Louis Philippe off the thrown because he changed the government and made himself emperor turning France back into a monarchy. When this happened the bread price rose and factories were shut down and people were not happy. They revolted against him and tried to get the government back to the way it was. Russia ended up winning the territory in the Polish revolution and kept their land so this was a failure. The French ended up getting Charles the 10th off the thrown which was a success at the beginning yet it soon blew up in their faces because Louis the new ruler turned himself into emperor turning  France back into a monarchy which is exactly what the French people didn't want. These revolts did not work at the time but showing that these people were willing to fight for what they wanted gave other people the will to fight. This is why these revolutions had an impact on a greater democracy today because of the want for freedom these people had.

Link to Video Recording of French Revolution of 1848
https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/french-revolution-final/26856118/?s=srH4UK&ref=app


https://sites.google.com/a/wisc.edu/ils202fall11/home/student-wikis/group11
French Revolution

Hershey Kiss Project

In class on Friday as a class played a big game of rock paper scissor. We had all started out with three pieces of candy except for two people who both had ten pieces of candy. If you won the game with someone they would give you a piece of candy but if you had lost you would have to give them a piece of candy. This was fun for me because I ended up getting lucky and getting a lot of candy. This game was fun for me because I won plenty of times and had a pile of candy but I can see people who kept losing would get frustrated easily.

Karl Marx and Adam Smith both had different views on trying to help the poor. Karl Marx had his way of communism where everybody had the same amount of money as everybody else. Everybody was equal and nobody had more than anyone else. Adam Smiths theory was Capitalism where everybody had their opportunity to compete the government uses the invisible hand and lets society fall into place on its own.

 I think capitalism works better because when you are given a chance to compete and earn what you work for those are the people that deserve their money not the people that do not work to earn what they want. There is also modified capitalism which is basically capitalism with rules and borderlines to how you can run a business or earn your money. This is definitely the best solution.

Child Labor Seminar Reflection

In today's class we had a Socratic Seminar on child labor and the effects it can have on kids. I brought to the discussion the fact that child labor isn't just long days of work but it can be physically, mentally, and emotionally harmful to the kids. I also said that when kids work in fields the company will spray harmful chemicals and pesticides into the air and onto the crops which may burn the children and be horrible for their general health. I said that you can never really know if something is made with child labor because the companies will not classify their work as child labor and won't announce it to the public. Therefore never truly making it known that an item is made with child labor. One person had brought to the discussion that if you write something on the label that says made with child labor nobody is going to want to buy it. Other people said that if they were parents they would heavily look into their child's job to see if they will be apart of child labor. Some people also said that they were surprised that child labor still even exists in America. What I think we did well during the seminar is giving everyone the opportunity to speak and express what they thought about child labor. We also answered the questions with great description. Some things I thought that we could work on were coming up with original ideas and not saying the same thing somebody else had said. Another thing I thought we could work on is moving along quicker so we can give everyone the chance to speak in a good amount of time.

Britain and France Population Chart

The populations in Britain and France from 1700-1800 greatly varied from one another. Year after year the populations would increase. Britain's population almost doubled, Frances population nearly tripled in size, from the early to late 1700's. France had a bigger leap than Britain but it had also started out with more people than Britain.Chart

Cory Lyons City Inspector in England

Cory Lyons

This report dated 9/15/14 has been provided for the urban planning committees of various cities in England. My name is Cory Lyons, and as a mid-level city inspector I trust that you will use the information within to determine appropriate needs in urban planning for your municipalities. My report has been through as I have made use of all the sources available to me and have worked to guide you through my own analysis and critical thinking to a full description of the issues facing our cities.

There were some positive views of working in the industrial revolution city. On the Cotton Mill (doc B) it is viewed as gorgeous palaces. This place is beautiful and kept in tip top condition. People loved this place and working here was a luxury and a delight compared to some of the other options of work during this time. This place was piercing with positive energy and it was squeaky clean. When it is referred to as a gorgeous palace then you can imagine the working conditions that come along with the title. This place is a friend with mankind. In (doc E) the conditions here aren’t as quality as those of the Cotton Mill but, there are very rare accidents here and the smoke isn’t all that noticeable. People claim they are not bothered by the smoke at all. This is safer than most factories with some factories being even more heavily polluted than this. I can see how very little accidents can happen but how are they not bothered by the smoke? If I had to work in a factory with smoke I wouldn’t be able to bear it. This factory is clean but it is not my first choice.

There were also some negative views of working in an industrial revolution city. In the  (doc A) Machines and large chimneys with smoke were very popular. The pollution from smoke and smog was so bad that the rivers would turn purple. To have pollution be as bad as to having a whole river change color is unbelievable. The workers were basically living in smoke and dirty rivers. This is pretty unsanitary if you ask me. In all seriousness nobody wants to have to work in pollution, smoke and just generally a dirty job. What really drove me over the edge is the dirty river that’s crazy! In (doc C) was possibly the dirtiest most terrifying job i’ve ever seen. The air was choking the people were pretty much locked in dungeons and it was just harsh and unnatural. The workers were constantly groaning and the men had no dignity. It was hell on Earth for these factory workers. In (doc D) the sounds of the spinning wheels were torturing to the ear. The smells and the air was brutal. The children were hideous and helpless and they had distorted limbs.

In these cities industrialization had more of a negative impact on people working in these cities because they were living in smoke and pollution which was horrible for their health. The sounds of the wheels and the smell of gas was terrible and they didn’t have any choice because once you were out of a job at that time it was nearly impossible to get another one. It will advance our technology for the future but as of now are hygiene and general health.


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