Neither Pro-War Nor Pro-Peace: Sydney George Fisher, John and Leo Faller, and Their Perspectives on Civil War Pennsylvania.

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2009
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Haverford College. Department of History
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Abstract
My thesis focuses on the lives of two Pennsylvanians in the Civil War. Sidney George Fisher was an aristocratic Philadelphian. He was educated at Dickinson College and originally worked as a lawyer. By the time of the war, he was retired, so he spent his time with family and friends. He also wrote books on political theory. During the Civil War, he kept a diary of his thoughts, opinions, and interactions with other people. John and Leo Faller were two young soldiers from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1861, they enlisted in the Seventh Pennsylvania Reserves. In 1862, they fought in the battles of the Seven Days, Second Bull Run, and Antietam. Leo was killed at Antietam, but John continued to serve with his regiment until he was captured in 1864. After spending time at Andersonville, he returned home in 1865. They sent many letters home about their experiences in the army. For my thesis, I look at both of their documents. I use them as a means to examine what Pennsylvanians thought about the Civil War. Did the people in the Keystone State support the Civil War? What did they think about it? Did they want to fight in the war or not? I attempt to answer these questions and similar ones by looking at Fisher and the Fallers. More specifically, I look at what Fisher and the Fallers thought about Pennsylvania politics, the military, and humanitarian aid. My conclusion is that Pennsylvania had a few outspoken supporters of the war, and a few people who were outspoken in opposition against the war. Such polarized people, however, were in the minority. Fisher’s diary and the Fallers’ letters suggest that many Pennsylvanians had more moderate views and fell between the two extremes of completely pro-war and completely pro-peace. Sometimes they supported the war effort and agreed with some of the Union Party’s (the pro-war party) political beliefs, but other times the same people opposed the war effort and agreed with the Copperhead Party (the pro-peace party).
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