The estimated reading time for this post is 2 minutes
Are you a Civil War history buff? Me neither! But that shouldn’t stop you from grabbing The Civil War Today iPad app from the iTunes App Store. As you may have heard, April 12, 2011 was the 150 year anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War in the United States. To honor the Civil War’s sesquicentennial, The History Channel, and A&E Network, in conjunction with Bottle Rocket Apps, have launched an amazing iPad app that takes you back to the days when the United States was deeply divided between the North and South.
The app has daily installments for four years, until the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, April 26, 2015. Upon opening the app, you see an image of a newspaper as it would have appeared 150 years ago. You also see the photo of the day, the casualty count, battle maps and a day in the life of major historic figures.
If you miss a day, you can either go back via the calendar or search for keywords. You can also save favorites to savor later.
The default background image is of a battle camp, but you can change the background to other historic images instead.
You can read the Quote of the Day to see what was being said at the time. I’m already looking forward to November 19, 2013, the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address by President Lincoln.
To make the app even more fun, the developers have included a Civil War trivia game. You can also share parts of the app with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
A unique aspect of the app that I haven’t found in any other app is the ability to control how much data is retained in memory. In settings, you can change the default from 5 GB of memory to higher or lower. The higher the number, the more quickly the information contained in the app will load, but the less space will be available on your iPad for other apps. The lower the number, the longer it will take you to access the information, but will leave you more room on your app. You should adjust this setting based upon the space on your iPad (16, 32 or 64 GB) and how much empty space you have on your iPad.
The price of this app is $7.99, which is a high price only in app stores. In any other place, this would be considered inexpensive: two gallons of gas, three cups of Starbucks coffee, or a couple of Happy Meals at McDonald’s.
Need further convincing? Check out the reviews in the iTunes App Store. Out of 205 ratings, 173 are five star ratings.
If your child is studying the US Civil War and you have an iPad, then this app will make history come alive. If you are an American citizen and have an iPad, then this is a must-have app. For anyone else, this app is merely highly recommended.
Thanks for this wonderful info. I am a history buff, but would like to know more about the Civil War. This sounds perfect!
Hi Kathy, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! This app is great, whether you’re a history buff or not, but I think history buffs will be thrilled with this quality app!
I’m a history buff, but not on the American Civil War. (Prefer the English one!)
But I will definitely check this out. The space saving feature is neat; I’m already filling up my iPad!
Hi Kathy, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! This app might very well turn you into a Civil War history buff!
I agree, I hope more apps begin to have this feature. The data doesn’t take long to load, so I don’t see a reason to keep 5 GB of data from this app on your iPad.
sesquicentennial. New word. Cool app. I love history apps. These graphics are interesting.
Hi Stephanie, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! When I went to the University of Richmond, they were celebrating their sesquicentennial so that word was used a lot. Now I don’t find many uses for the word, but it’s fun to use it when I can.
I’m glad you like the app. The graphics are cook. I find myself checking the app daily to get a taste of life back then.
The South could have avoided the war and won by going to the VA Fed. Court and asking to be separated from the North. There was nothing in the Constitution that would prevent their separation and the Supreme Court at the time had a majority of the Justices from the South. It would have saved thousands of lives.
Hi Bob, welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! Thank you for your insightful comment about the Civil War. I wonder, though, if the South had succeeded from the North if both countries would have continued to exist. Although many lives would have been saved, the course of history would have been significantly different.