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  3. In terms of lives lost and property destroyed, the Civil War was the most terrible armed conflict Americans have ever known, but

In terms of lives lost and property destroyed, the Civil War was the most terrible armed conflict Americans have ever known, but

admin2013-05-29  29
问题     In terms of lives lost and property destroyed, the Civil War was the most terrible armed conflict Americans have ever known, but that has not prevented them from remembering it with enduring fondness. The Civil War remains the most written-about period in American history, and it provides boundless entertainment in the United States and around the world. Instead of an object lesson in the dangers of political polarization, racial inequality, and human cruelty, fans consider their favorite war an exercise in nobility--a bloodbath that somehow forged the unbreakable bonds of American national identity.
    Most Civil War historians were reared in this romantic tradition, and they have yet to fully free themselves from it. They still view the struggle through rose- colored glasses, making excuses for flawed heroes who have the reputations they never deserved. With the publication of While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War, Charles W. Sanders has distinguished himself as one of the few scholars capable of addressing the Civil War with utter frankness. His brilliantly researched book is a ringing accusation of the prisoner-of-war (POW) systems maintained by both sides of that war, as well as the politicians and soldiers who deliberately sent thousands of men to needless suffering and death. There are no heroes in this study, just too many unnecessary victims.
    Sanders sets his study in context by first tracing the evolution of POW policy during the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Mexican War. Americans knew that POWs were vulnerable to mistreatment, and the quickest way to improve their lot was to negotiate exchanges with the enemy. At the outset of the Civil War, neither side was prepared to cope with the many prisoners-of- war their armies captured, and prisoners inevitably suffered from inadequate housing, food, medical care, and other necessities. Abraham Lincoln delayed the implementation of general exchanges until July 1862 for fear it would allow rebellious southerners to claim actual recognition of the Southern sovereignty. Once implemented, the exchange system quickly emptied prisons in the North and South, but it began breaking down by the end of the year.
Americans generally remember the Civil War with ______.
选项 A、sadness
B、suspicion
C、horror
D、affection
答案D
解析
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