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From Mary Chestnut’s Civil War

From Mary Chestnut’s Civil War. By Mary Boykin Miller Chestnut. About Mary Chestnut. Born in 1823 Daughter of US Senator from South Carolina Stephen Miller and Mary Boykin Well educated. Grew up in Charleston, South Carolina Married James Chestnut, Jr. in April of 1840

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From Mary Chestnut’s Civil War

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  1. FromMary Chestnut’s Civil War By Mary Boykin Miller Chestnut

  2. About Mary Chestnut • Born in 1823 • Daughter of US Senator from South Carolina Stephen Miller and Mary Boykin • Well educated

  3. Grew up in Charleston, South Carolina • Married James Chestnut, Jr. in April of 1840 • Husband elected to the US Senate

  4. Chestnut became very close friends of Varina and Jefferson Davis as well as many congressional members who later became key members of the Confederate government • James Chestnut became a General and Aide-de-Camp to P.T. Beauregard.

  5. Historical Significance • Doubts about slavery, fears for the future of the south and intelligent insights made her diary an important chronicle of the war. • Close friendships with the Confederate Government leaders (Means and Manning), gave her rare insight to the political workings of a war

  6. About the story • Diaries written between February of 1861 and July of 1865 • Written in First Person point of view • Since this is a Diary she wrote informally because she did not expect her entries to get published • Diaries were left to Isabella D. Martin a close friend

  7. The diaries were first published in 1905 in a heavily edited edition known as A Diary from Dixie • In 1949 an annotated edition of A diary from Dixie was published • Mary Chestnut’s Civil War was published in its current form in 1981

  8. Chestnut was present at many significant sites of the civil war including: • Montgomery • Richmond • Charleston • Mary Chestnut’s Civil War won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. • Selections from the book are featured in Ken Burns’ Documentary, The Civil War

  9. Point of View • Saw the inside workings of government politics • Had a close up view of the confederate government • Was effectively an outside observer in the middle of everything

  10. Difference in point of views? • Wouldn’t have known what was going on if she was a lower class confederate • Less accurate account of events • If she was a northerner she might not have even known who was in charge of making the decisions

  11. Literary Style • Journal • Written informally with personal thoughts • Generally journals are not meant to be published

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