American Civil War

[odette_river]

So...what did people at the time call the American Civil War? I was wandering around a graveyard the other day (strange, I know) and found a few gravestones with "War of 1861" on them, so I'm tending to think that's what it was... Anyone know for sure?

Comments

[cresida]

I've often heard War Between the States, when claiming what it was called during the war itself and Reconstruction. However, I have no source for that.

The wikipedia article is fairly unhelpful:

"The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself, are subjects of lingering controversy, even today."

[sweet_gardenia]

Hehehe...The Recent Unpleasantries ;) to this day even. I've also heard it called the War 'Tween the States, Mr. Lincoln's War, The War For (Southern) Independence.

By the South's point of view, they had declared themselves an independent nation, set the borders and by the Northerners crossing the borders it was looked up as an act of aggression against a sovereign nation and so they reacted accordingly. The Civil War's complicated like that, there was a lot of different issues involved and people still argue over them to this day *shrugs*

[justjayj]

Appropos of nothing...ICON LOVE!

[spicymachaggis]

Always remember though, the south was never recognized as a sovereign nation by anyone other than themselves, therefore It was not a sovereign nation protecting it's borders, it was a rebellious act by a treasonous puppet regime.
Case in point, the American Revolution. Until France oficially recognized the United States Government, it was a group of radicals committing treason, but once recognized by a foreign power it becomes a nation defending it's interests.
If the British had won the war, it would have been a Reoccupation of lands seized by a foreign nation rather than a put down of a rebellion.

[delle]

Always remember though, the south was never recognized as a sovereign nation by anyone other than themselves, therefore It was not a sovereign nation protecting it's borders, it was a rebellious act by a treasonous puppet regime.

I'm not entirely sure that's true - but it's been a looooooong time since I took my Civil War History class. If the South wasn't recoginized by Britain and France - especially Britain, for the cotton trade - they were certainly working on it.

"Treason" is a very loaded word. I"m a Northern girl currently living in the South. The reality of the War is simply that it was a constitutional conflict - which held primary power, the State or the Federal Government? The fact that the South held a different opinion - and lost - doesn't necessarily = treason.

[samtyr]

I've heard it referred to as "The Late Unpleasantness" and also "The War between the States."

[redcoast]

Link.

Did you try to Google it?

[ap_aelfwine]

During the war itself?

"The war," maybe? Just the now, the only phrase that comes to mind from a period song is "off to the wars," but that sounds like a stock phrase from the Anglo-Scots-Irish ballad repertory and I highly doubt it would have been used outside a song.

Try hunting up a set of Civil War letters or journals and seeing which phrase is most often used. I expect it would've varied not only from Union to Confederacy but from place to place and between social classes, so as much as possible you'll want to stick with material from the same sort of people as your characters are.