What They Fought For is a collection of personal letters/diary entries written by those who fought in the American Civil War. These entries shed light on why each soldier fought in this bloody war. The author indicates that most of these men had a sense of commitment to patriotism. In these letters, they talked not only about what they were fighting for, but also about the difficulties and problems. These insights can show how the soldiers had thought through the ideological issues of the war in great detail, which had never been seen before. Slavery played a crucial role in this war. The North wanted the abolition of slavery, using both morality and pragmatism to defend itself. The South, however, considered it a way of life, economically and socially speaking. From what has been said previously about sectionalism between North and South and from these letters, the author is able to show how diverse the personal beliefs and motivations for his involvement in the war were. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Some of these reasons for getting involved in the war ranged from protecting what they believed to be morally right, to not having even a single clue as to why. Some of those in between were soldiers believing they were standing up for what was right or fighting to preserve what the founding fathers had stood for, the Declaration of Independence. A major shift occurs in this book around the time of the Emancipation Proclamation, where you can see both the attitudes of Southerners changing, but also those of the North. After the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, it intensified the moral crisis in the Union armies. Many left the Union and Confederate armies. Some explained why by saying, "I'm the boy who can fight for my country, but not for black people." This plunged the Union Army into an unprecedented low with a series of disasters and declining morale. However, the Union gained a few blacks who were freed and able to enlist. The South was getting worse and worse with the North and this policy, but the news did not reach Texas until Lee had already surrendered. What they fought for had a clear and concise thesis. Through the letters used, the author was able to convey a central thesis that soldiers on both sides fought to a large extent, primarily over the notion of honor and duty, or strength and courage. The author chose very specific letters to use in this little book. The author used many different letters that had the same central idea. This shows that McPherson did extensive research to study the many reasons behind each letter/diary written to bring it all together into a very organized book. McPherson researched these letters extensively and obtained them only from reliable sources. Some of these sources include the United States Institute of Military History, Carolina University, Duke University, and the Huntington Library. The author attempts to recreate an accurate depiction of the lives of the soldiers and families who lived during the Civil War by examining and studying all of these letters. Other examples of the breadth of research he did were seen in the statistics he presented in his book as well as the many sources available to him. The use of a.