The Civil War

      The Civil War was a time of great loss, and ironically triumph, in American history. As everyone knows, this great war evolved from a simple disagreement regarding the use of African American slaves; the North did not believe in slavery, but the South did. When Abraham Lincoln began his Presidency, he began to push the movement of ending slavery; this eventually led to the Civil War. In Piatt's poem, Arlington Heights, she talks about the Arlington National Cemetery and everything the soldier's went to to get to their initial resting place. The ironic part is that the cemetery is on the estate of Robert E. Lee, and the first monument was erected as a memorial to 1800 Union soldiers. Piatt states how "They saw the dust, they join'd the moving mass / They answer'd the fierce music's cry for blood / Then straggled there and lay down in the grass" (1382). Piatt explains how these men joined the cause and fought for what their culture believed in. In the case of Piatt, it was against slavery.

     Many people could argue that Lincoln's quest to end slavery was not a positive thing for our country. In the process of ending slavery, this war managed to end, damage, and severely change the lives of many people, but that was not the beliefs of William Cullen Bryant. In his poem The Death of Lincoln, Bryant explains how Lincoln was a noble man "Who perished in the cause of Right" (1381). Bryant explains, how in his lifetime, Lincoln managed to gain a nations trust and and free the slaves from immense bondage. In the way of beliefs and views, Bryant and Piatt supported the same cause.