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Placing the American Civil War in an International Context

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Whether perusing high school history textbooks or viewing documentary films by Ken Burns, one is left impressed by the sheer magnitude of the American Civil War. In fact, few other phenomena can be said to have exerted so dramatic an influence on the United States as a nation. More than 150 years later the events during that period have become mythologized into a canon of oft-repeated tales about noble leaders and heroic battles. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis ... Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee ... Gettysburg and Antietam. source: New York Public Library Myriad other names and locations have been immortalized in the historical memory of Americans as well. In many of these narratives the United States nation, both united and divided, remains the central player within this historical narrative. [1] In many respects this nation-centric focus is understandable. Although too diverse and far-reaching to sufficiently examine in this space, the Civil War helped to crea