GETTysburg! GETTysburg!

 I started wondering the other day if I would have to change my vocabulary to re-enact. Did Americans use contractions? I started fretting that I would mess up and be a bad representative if I spoke like modern day.

Doing some researching, I found that contractions have been around a lot longer than I thought. So they're safe. (Another reassurance is I had forgotten about the word "ain't", a slang contraction for 'am not' or 'is not' and prevalent during this time period.)

We'll never be able to completely explain how they talked in the 19th century, since none of us lived in that time. However, below is a video I just watched that address this topic.

Brother Against Brother: The War Comes Home

I don’t know what I’ll do if my brother ever decides to join the military. The number of young men (and women now) joining to fight terrorism and evil dictators overseas is astronomical. I know quite a few people fighting right now so that I can have the freedom to write this.

During the Civil War, the amount of young men leaving home to fight was even higher. They would watch their fathers, brothers and friends leave to fight, and for the sake of patriotism and pride, they would usually follow suit. They would go to fight the evil of slavery or the overbearing Northerners. Well, not all of them felt that way.

One of the main feelings among the soldiers of this day was the overall feeling of brotherhood. They’d fight and die right alongside the men in their company, but they also felt a feeling of brotherhood with the enemy.

Why?