[JWinNC]

thanks for the ping

Something I've wondered about...

I'm a student of US history, particularly this time period, but there is something I have never understood. Why is that so many letters from this period are so good? Some of these writers were no doubt well educated but many, many soldiers who wrote were not.

Even the least literate from this period seem to naturally write the most elegant and poignant letters. Their language is rich. What is it that these men had and why aren't we teaching to our children?

I strongly suspect that we have lost something.

jw

[expatguy]

I strongly suspect that we have lost something.

We have and yet sometimes it seems so difficult to pinpoint what that is.

I'd really love to hear not only your thoughts but that of everyone else about what *exactly* it is that we have lost.

[stand watie]

YEP we've lost something. it's called EDUCATION.

blame the damnyankee-controlled, "publick screwl edumakashun sistim".

free dixie,sw

[Alia]

I know from my own studies; many of the soldiers couldn't write; but educated officers would write letters for them. And, lastly, there were some very finely educated men involved on both sides of the "recent unpleasantness".