Fathering Recruitment

Titled, “A Good Way for Fathers of Families to Aid Recruiting,” this July 1862 Harper’s Weekly cartoon is a playful take on Union recruitment efforts. (Yet, it is much more positive than the mocking “Light Guard” cartoon of 1861.) Additionally, the cartoon offers a subtle reminder of the pivotal role that women played in building and sustaining the war effort—for both the North and the South.

Image Credit: Harper’s Weekly, July 26, 1862.

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DOWNS: After Appomattox (2015)

After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War by Gregory P. Downs. Harvard University Press, 2015. Cloth, ISBN: 978-0674743984. $32.95.   When exactly did the Civil War end? This seemingly…