Civil War Math

Discussion in 'History & Geography' started by Ken Anderson, May 1, 2018.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,473
    Likes Received:
    42,971
    The American Civil War was fought in the battle fields and in children's textbooks. Boys and girls attending school in the South learned math from Lemuel Johnson's, An Elementary Arithmetic, Designed for Beginners textbook. Here are a couple of the problems that students had to solve.

    A Confederate soldier captured eight Yankees each day for nine days. How many Yankees did he capture in all?

    If one Confederate soldier can whip seven Yankees, how many Confederate soldiers can whip forty-nine Yankees?

    In the North, The Union ABC, published in 1865, at the end of the war, taught grammar to preschoolers. Like many alphabet books, it presented a word from each letter of the alphabet. Here's a sample.

    A is America, land of the free.
    B is a Battle, our soldiers did see.
    C is a Captain, who led on his men.

    N is for Negro, no longer a slave.

    T is a Traitor, hung on a tree.

    U is the Union, our soldiers did save.
     
    #1
  2. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2015
    Messages:
    56,092
    Likes Received:
    23,674
    Ummmm...... propaganda goes back that far?
     
    #2
    Ken Anderson likes this.

Share This Page