War (Part I)

No matter how one looks at it war is ugly.  It leaves devastation and destruction in its path, inflicting a heavy toll upon most that live through it.  With such a high price the motivations must be great that would lead people to rise up against others.

Wars happen for many reasons.  Some of the reasons include:

• Someone deciding they want something that doesn't belong to them and stopping at nothing to obtain it.  In cases like this, the offended party must stand up for what rightfully belongs to them, or else be run over and destroyed.  Situations like these often include people who've defended their freedom from oppression.

• Sometimes war is the result of two separate parties wanting what the other has and deciding they are going to take it by whatever means necessary.  Many princes have fought for the tile of "King" and many innocents have died as a result of their avarice.

• Sometimes people rise up against "the powers that be" because they refuse to suffer any longer under tyrannical hands or belief systems which have been forced upon them.

For me, whenever I try and discern the particular reason why a particular war was fought I always find myself asking one basic question:  What is it that compelled people to pick up arms and go to war?

There is much that can be said about war, so I won't attempt to make a full account of it. Besides, there is a plethora of both scholarly and philosophical works about war, both for and against, and I feel it best to leave topical debates to the experts.  But what does personally interest me is the effect war has upon those who live through it - in this case I focus upon the American Civil War.

For example, some questions I ponder:  How did the war affect daily life?  What value systems caused people to go to war, or to justify their actions?  What was the impact on men, women, children, families, society, etc.?  What did life "look like" for those living in or near the battle zone? What about life for those living in areas free from the battle zone - what was life like for them?  I also wonder what made this war different than others that have been fought.

These are some of the questions which I'm curious to find answers for, if there are any.  Either way, I'm certain it will be an adventure trying to discover them.