“Information wants to be free.”

I think that this was the first class that actually made me contemplate the meaning of this phrase, mainly because it deals with how the freedom of information can affect the way we perceive information going forward. It’s a nice reference to previous lessons as well, and it ties into a topic that is still politically charged to this day, mainly the Civil War.

Now, in my opinion, the North were the good guys in this war, even if only slightly more so in comparison to the South. It doesn’t really surprise me that Lincoln wasn’t completely open with having slaves fight for the Union, even if it was pragmatic, mainly because of how he wanted to still placate the South. Even if one takes into account the idea that the South was fighting for states’ rights, one of those rights was the ownership of other people, which is something that I can’t help but look down on.

Professor O’Malley did a great job with creating the debate however, by showing us documents that give the impression that black men served in the Confederate army. One of those documents were written by Doctor Lewis Steiner, who notes that black men were aiding the Confederate army during their march on Frederick, Maryland. He also showed us the photo of the first Louisiana Native Guard in 1861, which was used by both the Confederate and Union armies as propaganda.

What was surprising to me was when Professor O’Malley suddenly asked “Why do people fight in war anyway”? It’s a question that is focused on when he then tied to a photo of a black man dressed as a Confederate soldier. “Did he have a choice?” Professor O’Malley inquired. “If I’m a Confederate, I can use this as an excuse.”

I’ll admit that I was skeptical of all of these documents, as being a History major has taught me to go through multiple sources, and history has a way of being biased in one way or another. Professor O’Malley then said something that I have heard before as a History Major, “Total Skepticism.” He told a story of a fourth grade textbook in Virginia, one that claimed that thousands of black men were Confederate soldiers. Historians understandably took issue with this statement, and the person who wrote it said “I found it on the internet.”

To me, the internet is a blessing and a curse for us. As Professor O’Malley noted, documents that were previously difficult to go through or even find can now be brought up within minutes, whereas before it would take months for people to find what they were searching for. On the other hand, these sources can be dubious in quality and authenticity, and it requires us to know how to differentiate sources that are credible with those we accept simply because it aids our viewpoints. “It’s a hard job to navigate a world where the sources aren’t reliable.”

I think that as a History Major, this lecture was quite intriguing in showing how the internet has both helped our generation and hindered our generation. We can access so much information within mere seconds, but we need to know which source is reliable enough for us to use in our studies, especially in History, which can be controlled by the people that recorded it.