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.
This is one video from the Civil War In 4 series, sponsored by The Civil War Trust. Historians take 4 minutes and talk on a particular subject; anything from Army formation to reenacting. Its definitely my favorite video series, and I love watching new ones for the first time. Yankee PotPie will be blogging on several of these videos in the future.
Just press play below and watch "Civil War Pronunciation".
Soooooo, what do you think of Civil War In 4? I like them because the videos (very quickly) discuss the fun, interesting aspects of the Civil War; exactly what Yankee PotPie was founded on. I have found I enjoy Garry Adelman (the guy from the video up there) the most out of any Civil War In 4 historian.
So there you have it. 4 minutes to tell you the locals are right: GETTysburg.
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