As the United States of America faced the prospect of permanent disunion during the Civil War, new technologies made total union of such a large nation a possibility. New inventions and applications in communications, printing, and transportation promised to link the country, from coast to coast: railroads, telegraph wires, and faster presses moved and distributed people, materials, and information quickly; and cameras could capture and record images of far-off people and events for audiences elsewhere. A true unification lay on the horizon, with the country’s vast geographical expanse knit together into one continuous entity. Though the Civil War seemed to threaten the realization of this unification, it may actually have encouraged its growth. For example, taking advantage of the new innovations, journalism took off during the war, and the national “news” as it is known today began to form. North and South, the broken country banded together in its search for, and consumption of, information, linking editors, correspondents, and readers throughout the country in a web of exchange.
(Click here to continue to the accompanying photo essay.)
[1] Harris, Brayton. Blue & Gray in Black & White. Dulles: Batsford Brassey, 1999.
[2] Coopersmith, Andrew S. Fighting Words: An Illustrated History of Newspaper Accounts of the Civil War. New York: New, 2004.
[3] The Library of Congress. American Memory. 13 Aug. 2007. The Government of the United States. 23 Oct. 2007 <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html>.
[4] Cobb, Josephine. “Photographers of the Civil War.” Military Affairs 26.3 (1962): 127-135.
[5] The J. Paul Getty Museum. “Timothy H. O’Sullivan.” The Getty. J. Paul Getty Trust. 26 Oct. 2007 <http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=1928>.
[6] Nickles, Sandra and Joe D. Thomas. “Pictures of the Civil War.” The National Archives. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. 23 Oct. 2007 <http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/index.html>.
