Follow the Civil War… On Twitter

 

The American Civil War started on April 12, 1861 with the firing on Fort Sumter, and ranged across the states from Pennsylvania to New Orleans. You probably know about the  many battles waged here, in Virginia and the DC area. But did you know that you can follow the events of the Civil War in real time?

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Washington Post developed a set of linked Twitter accounts that “tweet” events of the Civil War, 150 years after they happened. 

To experience the Civil War as it would have been tweeted, subscribe to the Tweeting the Civil War list on twitter, or bookmark the page link on your computer.

Tweeting characters include:

• Ulysses S. Grant – ‏@GenGrantWP
• Thomas J. Jackson ‏- @GenJacksonWP
• Robert E. Lee ‏- @RobertELeewp
• AbrahamLincoln ‏- @AbeLincolnWP
• JeffersonDavisWP ‏- @JeffDavisWP
• United States ‏- @wpUnion
• Confederate States ‏- @wpConfederacy
• CivilWarLetters ‏- @WarLettersWP
• 1860sPressReports – ‏ @1860sPresswp
• And many more

 

While we often think of history as incidents centered on explosive battles or an inevitable tide of history, the “Tweeting the Civil War” project reminds us in 140 characters that history is the collective experience of many individuals living their day-to-day lives.