I'm surprised that nobody has yet recommended the exemplary Web site
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2/
in connection with this discussion.

Read what actual Pennsylvanians and Virginians had to say about the
coming of the war (Click on "The Eve of War" to enter the
archive). And be prepared to find some startling similarities along
with the conventional differences.

Ed Ayers and his collaborators are giving us all the opportunity to
see newspapers, letters, and other records that previously were
accessible only to academics (and private families, in the case of
letters donated to the project). Teachers, try reading these primary
source documents before you make sweeping generalizations.

One rather surprising (to the average non-historian) finding is the
quick shift from anti-secession to pro-secession sentiment among the
Virginians from 1860 to 1861.

Kathleen Much

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