The truth about the Civil War - Why people volunteered to fight | Gary Gallagher and Lex Fridman

Comments · 213

• LE

  @LexClips · 2 months ago · pinned

  Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXBwO5jYpw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXBwO5jYpw</a><br>Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/cv9905-sa</a><br>See below for guest bio, links, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.<br><br><b>GUEST BIO:</b><br>Gary Gallagher is a historian of the American Civil War.<br><br><b>CONTACT LEX:</b><br><b>Feedback</b> - give feedback to Lex: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/survey">https://lexfridman.com/survey</a><br><b>AMA</b> - submit questions, videos or call-in: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/ama">https://lexfridman.com/ama</a><br><b>Hiring</b> - join our team: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/hiring">https://lexfridman.com/hiring</a><br><b>Other</b> - other ways to get in touch: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/contact">https://lexfridman.com/contact</a><br><br><b>EPISODE LINKS:</b><br>Gary&apos;s UVA page: <a href="https://history.virginia.edu/people/gary-w-gallagher">https://history.virginia.edu/people/gary-w-gallagher</a><br>Gary&apos;s Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_W._Gallagher">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_W._Gallagher</a><br>The Confederate War (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/4yletel">https://amzn.to/4yletel</a><br>The Union War (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/3QT1jED">https://amzn.to/3QT1jED</a><br>Lee and His Generals in War and Memory (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/4fdrbD5">https://amzn.to/4fdrbD5</a><br>Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/4wFxk1X">https://amzn.to/4wFxk1X</a><br>The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/4vsAogU">https://amzn.to/4vsAogU</a><br>The Great Courses - The American Civil War: <a href="https://bit.ly/4gDX3mQ">https://bit.ly/4gDX3mQ</a><br><br><b>SPONSORS:</b><br>To support this podcast, check out our sponsors &amp; get discounts:<br><b>Upwork:</b> Platform for hiring freelancers.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/upwork-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/upwork-cv9905-sa</a><br><b>NetSuite:</b> Business management software.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-cv9905-sa</a><br><b>Shopify:</b> Sell stuff online.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-cv9905-sa</a><br><b>LMNT:</b> Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-cv9905-sa</a><br><b>BetterHelp:</b> Online therapy and counseling.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-cv9905-sa</a><br><b>Perplexity:</b> AI-powered answer engine.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-cv9905-sa</a><br><b>Plaud:</b> AI-powered note-taking devices and software.<br>Go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/s/plaud-cv9905-sa">https://lexfridman.com/s/plaud-cv9905-sa</a><br><br><b>PODCAST LINKS:</b><br>- Podcast Website: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/podcast">https://lexfridman.com/podcast</a><br>- Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://apple.co/2lwqZIr">https://apple.co/2lwqZIr</a><br>- Spotify: <a href="https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8">https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8</a><br>- RSS: <a href="https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/">https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/</a><br>- Podcast Playlist: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4</a><br>- Clips Channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/lexclips">https://www.youtube.com/lexclips</a><br><br><b>SOCIAL LINKS:</b><br>- X: <a href="https://x.com/lexfridman">https://x.com/lexfridman</a><br>- Instagram: <a href="https://instagram.com/lexfridman">https://instagram.com/lexfridman</a><br>- TikTok: <a href="https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman">https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman</a><br>- LinkedIn: <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman">https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman</a><br>- Facebook: <a href="https://facebook.com/lexfridman">https://facebook.com/lexfridman</a><br>- Patreon: <a href="https://patreon.com/lexfridman">https://patreon.com/lexfridman</a><br>- Telegram: <a href="https://t.me/lexfridman">https://t.me/lexfridman</a><br>- Reddit: <a href="https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman">https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman</a>

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• NO

  @NolanManteufel · 1 month ago (edited)

  In one of my family history books is the story of a 19/21 year old boy in Wisconsin who went down the Mississippi river and joined a Louisiana regiment. He fought with them in major conflicts but when his dad told him in a letter that his younger brother joined a Wisconsin regiment he decided to abandon the south. He swam the river and joined the nearest union regiment, which happened to be from Ohio. He later died in a mission assaulting defensive positions at Vicksburg. Everyone who survived the mission received a medal of honor. They were not awarded posthumously back then.

  28

• SL

  @Slapnuts9011 · 1 month ago

  Great analysis

  7

• WI

  @williammobley2110 · 1 month ago

  Lincoln literally said that he wouldn’t invade to free the slaves but to collect taxes and protect forts (that could blockade Southern ports to collect taxes) in his first inaugural address.

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• DO

  @donquixote812 · 1 month ago

  Bloody Kansas should be a more important topic as a precursor.

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• JE

  @jerrycave5331 · 1 month ago (edited)

  My GGF served from first Appomattox until surrendered at Sayler’s Creek and sent to Point Look Out. He survived Pickett’s Charge and the frontal Assault under Longstreet at Second Manassas.

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• WI

  @williamcampbell7329 · 1 month ago

  The question of why an Ohio farm boy would put on a uniform and be willing to die in combat was carefully and thoughtfully explained. &nbsp;What I had hoped to hear was the corollary, why would a southern farm boy make that same sacrifice? To uphold slavery? As was said, most were volunteers, who had no direct vested interest nor ownership of slaves. I ask this question because my great great grandfather fought for the south and it was my understanding he felt duty bound to do so, and I’ve always wanted to understand why.

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• DA

  @danabartlett9772 · 1 month ago

  The TRUTH!! Oh, thank you.

• EO

  @Eolian61 · 4 days ago

  My grandfather and his older brother, both non slave holding farmers from northern Virginia, both joined the Army of Northern Virginia one day before their nineteenth birthday, I.e., the last day they could legally avoid the southern draft, since they didn’t own the required number of slaves or have the money to buy a proxy to avoid service. So they were ‘volunteers’ who served from 1862 until the end of the war.

• AU

  @Augustusmaxwell1668 · 1 month ago

  I had two great great great uncles’ who ran away from home in Pennsylvania to fight. Their parents (my ancestors) were German immigrants and it was just something you did. People believed in the union as do I now. One died and the other badly injured…

• CH

  @ChickenShmicken · 3 weeks ago

  I would have loved to hear the explanation for the motivation of southerners to join. I doubt a poor farmer that couldn&apos;t buy a slave with a 100 years worth of earnings was willing to die to keep the rich wealthy. That motivation is a far cry from the preservation of the union rationale for the poor farmer in Ohio that was willing to die. I had family that joined the Alabama Union regiments and some that joined the Confederacy. What i had always heard for why they joined the Confederacy that was passed down was that they viewed the North as invaders and they held allegiance to the state of Alabama ahead of the country. So when the state voted to leave the Union, they followed the state. I never heard states rights brought up in these conversations concerning my family.

  1

• JO

  @johnbaugh2437 · 1 month ago

  I’m thinking most joined with ideas of heroism and to get away from a home they never been more 10 miles from. It seemed like an adventure.

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