Analyzing Mary Boykin Chesnut

Mary Boykin Chesnut Birth -- Death Years Birth: March 31, 1823, South Carolina, United States Death: November 22, 1886, Camden, South Carolina, United States Picture of Character: Find a digital photo of the individual and paste it here. Most Noted For A book written by her titled 'A Diary From Dixie' which became one of the most important works from the Civil War era. Character Profile Report Biographical Information: Include life experiences that impacted thoughts and impact on United States history.

Mary Boykin Chesnut was brought up in a plantation near Stateburg, South Carolina and was married to James Chesnut Jr. of Mulberry Plantation near Camden when she was seventeen. Since James was a political and military person, Mary also got influenced and her interaction with the elite of that government, the Confederacy, started. She observed everything about them. Although herself a slaveowner, she despised slavery and wanted to put an end to this system. During the Civil War, she observed everything carefully and also became the hostess of salons.

She used to observe not only the political and military developments, but also the way civilians, soldiers, masters and slaves see the events and used to record this information in her diary. Her diary extracts as well as her narrative journal enables United States to look at the events of the Civil War from an independent perspective. Historical/Political Context: Explain the broader historical events that shaped the character's era. This is not about the person's accomplishments.

While Mary Chesnut had a social role, she was also more of a politician. In 1860, the war became more savage and her husband resigned from his seat in the Senate and came back to South Carolina to aid in the drafting of an ordinance of secession. Mary knew that the events that she was able to witness were of much importance and thus she knew that she had to record everything, as her position was also strategic.

She had been in Charleston during the time Major Robert Anderson shifted to Fort Sumter, located in Montgomery due to the induction of Jefferson Davis, as well as in Charleston all through the shooting on Fort Sumter, wherein James assisted General Pierre G. T. Beauregard (Johnson et al. 2012, 56). Beliefs on the Important Issues of the Day: Describe what thoughts the character expressed about important issues.

As the hostess of the salon where men used to gather while endeavoring to form a new government along with their wives who congregated, Mary got a great chance to record the events of the country buzzing with excitement. She was very eager to visit the wounded and the sick from the war and to tend to them. She expressed her feeling about certain events when she was excited in her journal or otherwise outraged over the antics of the men on higher levels of authority.

In March 1861, she wrote in her diary: "This war began a War of Secession, it will end a War for the Succession of Places." Her husband was faced with a dilemma in August 1861, whether he should serve in the army or stand for re-elections of the Senate when Mary burst with emotions in her diary, saying "Jeff Davis ill & shut up -- & none but noodles have the world in charge" (Muhlenfeld and Woodward 1992, 91).

Impact on the United States: How did this person's beliefs and actions affect the course of the Civil War and the nation after it? Gender constraints rendered her unable her to serve the army or get the hold of office and thus she expressed these feelings of restlessness in her journal. However, she saw her role as hostess of wartime salon and provided comfort to the soldiers and officers.

They found solace and peace in her living room where they were away from all the exhaustion, pain and despair of the war. They found this as a place to strengthen relations where other Confederate members and the women found this a way to socialize. Mary Chesnut also went to visit the sick and wounded in Columbia's hospitals. However, since her views in the diary indicated that south was fighting a lost war, she was exiled for her non-patriotic beliefs in 1865. (Johnson et al.

2012.93) Others' Criticisms: Summarize the criticisms of contemporaries, historians, and scholars. According to some literary scholars, Chesnut's diary is considered to be one of the most important works produced by a Confederate author. (Stern 2010, 65). This is because, in her works she addressed the problems faced by every Southern person who was member of the Confederacy. However, views regarding her changed with every turn in events in that country. In the 1970s, scholars pointed out some barbed comments about slavery by.