The Battle Of The War - 1498 Words

Confederates enter the war with a belief that would also sustain them during war years and ultimately shape the south after the war, a durable belief in their invincibility. Even after major turning points of the war, diehard Rebels continued to express a resilient belief in their invincibility. They were unconquerable and they truly stuck it about because they expected to win. Their ethos; beliefs of being highly favored children of God, attitudes of invincibility (homegrown and those spread through propaganda), patriotism, masculinity, and veteran comradery - on many different levels help to shape the war and the New South. For many diehard Rebels, religion cultivated strong beliefs of victory and the mindset of being†¦show more content†¦The press was often fictitious on policy and tactics; the school weakened or closed, but the church usually remains constant and seemed to thrive on the emotional and physical sacrifices of wartime.†(19) Southern clergy suppor ted the war effort with actions as well as words. Many joined the ranks as chaplains and others as officers. Through literal interpretations of the Bible, many clergies pointed to the explicit typologies between Confederacy and Biblical Israel. Southern life bred a defense of honor and Yankees were mirror opposites of Southerners. Life in the South demanded grit and resourcefulness, working with one’s hands as well as settling differences the same way. â€Å"Southerners descended from â€Å"better stock† than Northerners.† (44) Men boasted of being able to whip ten Yankees and those that did not were deemed as cowards. â€Å"Union men were no match for southern steel.† (46) Confederate letters and diaries revealed that as the war went on the enemy was viewed with intensified hatred, prejudice, and fear. Diehard Rebels’ perception of winning the war was reaffirmed through images, music, and poetry that stereotyped Yankees as hypocritical refor mers, capitalist, money-grubbers, and sanctimonious. Countless stories circulated, through newspaper press and campfire stories, of Yankees destroying crops and railroads,