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New York Times 'Disunion' Blog Covers the Civil War in Real Time

by Amar Toor on November 3, 2010 at 06:30 AM

'wide awake' marchers
Blogs didn't exist during the Civil War, but the New York Times certainly did -- and its extensive archives capture just about every phase of the five-year conflict. Now, nearly 150 years after the war broke out, the paper has begun covering the war once again in "real time," on a new blog called 'Disunion.'

Each post on the new forum focuses on what was going on in the U.S. on that particular day, 150 years prior. The first post, for example, went live on October 30th, and delves into what was making headlines on October 31st, 1860; yesterday's post focuses on the news from November 2nd, 1860 ("Young Republicans with axes! New York firemen run amok!"). Rather than directly reproduce the Times articles that ran on that day, Disunion's contributors flesh out the posts with contextualized background information and historical anecdotes, and even draw parallels to contemporary political events and newsmakers. Ultimately, however, each account remains firmly rooted in the news of that day, without skipping chapters, or overtly alluding to events that were to unfold later.

Considering the kind of vitriol swirling around Washington these days, it's not surprising that the Times would choose to unveil this blog right in time for midterm elections. And the thoughtful analysis and insights from Disunion's scholarly contributors certainly provide readers with compelling, long-term perspective on today's political climate. Its real ingenuity, though, is simply the format. With its richly textured accounts and careful attention to historical detail, Disunion plants its readers squarely at the epicenter of a single 19th-century news cycle, while gently reminding us that today's partisan bickering ultimately pales in comparison to what our country went through just a few generations ago.

Tags: archive, Blog, CivilWar, disunion, history, NewYorkTimes, politics, top, war

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