USA HISTORY

War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curse and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country ____ You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against the terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride.General William Sherman, Letter to the Mayor and Councilmen of Atlanta, 1864 How does this passage justify actions like Sherman’s “March to the Sea”?

(A) The South had no recourse but to continue fighting.

(B) The South put up a valiant fight and should be respected.

(C) The South should be forgiven and welcomed back into the Union.

(D) ** The South deserved the destruction of their lands for making war first.

Concept note-1: -Sherman was a brilliant general, but he could be pretty harsh. The whole “war is cruelty” line is basically justification for wanting to burn Atlanta to the ground. See, Sherman had a hankering for scorching the earth in the places he captured.

Concept note-2: -Sherman wrote: You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out.

Concept note-3: -After the war, William T. Sherman remarked about his friendship with Ulysses S. Grant, “He stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk: and now, sir, we stand by each other always.” Although Sherman was wisecracking with the statement, what he said was the truth.

Concept note-4: -There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”-William Tecumseh Sherman [2000 x 907]