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The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance?

© Michael J. Swogger

I was leafing through the book The Civil War: Strange and Fascinating Facts by Burke Davis, and I ran into a chapter that I thought many of you might be interested in. Chapter 13 of his book is titled "Which War?" and it lists the different names that the Civil War has been known by over the years. Now, I have always been aware that the "Civil War" was not the only title for the conflict. But I had absolutely no idea that there were as many names as there were. The following is a list of titles (not all of them) for the Civil War (ones in bold face are the more commonly known):

The War for Constitutional Liberty; The War for Southern Independence; The Second American Revolution; The War for States' Rights; Mr. Lincoln's War; The War of the Southern Planters; The War of Rebellion; The Second War for Independence; The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance; The Brothers' War; The War of Secession; The War Against Slavery; The War for Separation; The War for Abolition; The War of the Southrons; The War of the North and South; The Lost Cause; The War Between the States (Davis, 79).

The title The War Between the States is still one widely used, often by patriotic Southerners who refuse to use the words "Civil War." The author does mention that most of the names listed are of Southern origin (I'd didn't think that "The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance" came from the North). The reasoning for the differences in titles for the War is simply, as Davis puts it, that "the defeated and their heirs grasped for some expression of unquenched ardor and defiance which would do justice to the Old South" (Davis, 80).

Davis also conveys the differences in how the North and South named their battles. Where the South tended to choose the name of the nearest town or city, the North referred to their battles by the name of the nearest stream or river. Thus, the first and second Battles of "Bull Run" are names coined by the North, while in the South they are known as first and second "Manassas." Likewise, the Battle of Sharpsburg, as it was known in the South, was referred to as Antietam (Creek) by the North.

I find it very interesting how the one War, one similar experience, one event in history, can bring about so many different points of view or perspectives. This fact teaches us that never should we take for granted the notion that the experiences of others are similar to ourselves. Luckily, it doesn't really matter what you call the Civil War, we know what event it is we are discussing, and the happenings, though interpretation can be left open, remain absolute and relatively unchanging.

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