Do You Believe that Our Sex and Gender Rules are Social Constructions Term Paper

Do You Believe that Our Sex and Gender Rules are Social Constructions - Term Paper Example This essay declares that the gender of newborn had to be identified based on the genitalia, and in cases of â€Å"ambiguous† genitalia, babies had to undergo reparative surgery, whereas the clinical staff assigned a corresponding gender to a child. After the gender was surgically assigned to the baby, it was socially reinforced through various identifications such as clothing, bringing up process, etc. The cases of surgical procedures on reparation children’s genitalia, defined by clinicians as Disorders of Sexual Development perfectly illustrate how people are trying to â€Å"adapt biological diversity to socially constructed sex-gender binary†. This project stresses that nowadays, variation in genders is a more acceptable issue in society and has increased interest in the medical community. Comparing the two articles written by Fausto-Sterling in 7-years interval it is possible to see that during a quite small period of time human perception of intersexuals as full-fledged unit of society has increased significantly. Whether the other three sexes will be soon recognized fully by the society or not, providing those individuals with absolutely equal conditions and treatment, is not known. The only thing that is definitely clear is that scientific research and time do change social perception of the human body. The things perceived a century ago as nonsense, nowadays are viewed as absolutely common and understandable.

Free

Free schools Essay Are an interesting idea but the government needs to be very careful to make sure that educational standards improve for all children and that the whole community benefits. The idealogy behind free Schools are that they are non-profit making, independent, state-funded schools. They are able to choose what subjects they choose for their pupils to study and have many less restrictions imposed on them on how they choose to allocate their finances. For this very reason free schools would be varied in their nature as they would not be forced to follow for example the national curriculum. They are not defined by size or location: there is not a single type of free school or a single reason for setting them up. Free schools could be either primary or secondary schools. They could be located in traditional school buildings or appropriate community spaces such as office buildings or church halls. They could be set up by a wide range of proposers including charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, visionary teachers or committed parents who want to make a difference to the educational landscape. They might be needed because there simply are not enough school places in a local area and children have to travel too far to the nearest school. Free schools are not academically selective and open to children of all abilities. School is a defining factor in our lives and also promote a shared sense of community which is important as cohesive communities are generally more happy and safe than uncohesive ones there is no discrimination or segregation and they nurture a shared set of beliefs and values and goals, living together in harmony and mutual respect. An example of a community that lacks this is Oldham in which the races, Asians and whites were segregated and this triggered violent race riots. This happened due to the immense divide between Asian and White communities and their inability to mix and appreciate one another. This event made me think that this was very bad for the community and did nothing but encourage racial segregation. Looking at the footage of the riots of 2001 it is clear that situation could have been easily avoided had everyone learnt to appreciate one another. Community cohesion is about ensuring that all people from different backgrounds and communities feel they belong to the place in which they live. We cannot realise our ambitions by living in isolation to one another, it must be as a united city, where the differences of race, colour, and religion are embraced. A sense of community cohesion as we grow up makes us happier in general and encourages us to be unprejudiced and non-racist. Our distinctive character is developed early on in life and to be encouraged to mix with other people with different beliefs and religions helps promote a safer and on the whole a more happier and strong community. We start school within the first few years of our lives and being mixed with different people at this institution endorses a stronger community. We spend a good part of a decade at school so there is no doubt that school will be largely responsible for our values and beliefs, as well as our personality. Depending on what school we go to we are thrust into a shared community and we learn to get along and share beliefs. As stated in the Source material, Being part of a community helps us develop an identity a sense of who we are. An uncohesive community has exactly the opposite effect, and children growing up in an uncohesive community can grow up to have negative views and not feel like they belong and the can feel like they do not have a stake in society and being able to join in and influence decisions that affect their lives. When David Cameron and Nick Clegg (leaders of the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrat party) were elected to form a coalition government in 2010, one of the Conservatives policies were the Big Society which was apparently based on a model of Balsall Heath A town with low levels of community cohesion. The idea of the Big Society was that people take greater control of their communities and not rely on the government and local authorities to provide services like schools, community centres, youth clubs. This town has now been transformed and the town is now clean and tidy and people of all different cultural backgrounds mix. The most positive effects of this were that community cohesion increased in a drastic way. There is no doubt that there are some beneficial aspects of free schools such as people of all different ethnicities mixing together as a free school is not academically selective. This discourages discrimination and community cohesion. Some people may argue that the current government is trying to distance themselves from responsibility and segregate society but I believe that David Cameron is good to encourage people to take action if they are deprived of something that will be a credit to the community. Further argument counteracting this is that some people think that such people in deprived areas are not skilled or have enough knowledge to undertake a difficult project of opening a school, particularly a secondary school. A quote from a recent article of the Telegraph states These kids will be left behind, because the second point is that, if you set up a market mechanism, then there are winners and losers, but, in this case the losers are children, left behind in a sink school. The endorsement of free schools is debatable, but interesting. Nick Clegg declared on the 5th September in his speech Free schools would not become the preserve of the privileged few' which outlines the fact that he thinks free schools would in effect privatize the education system and allow the new institutions to cream off the best pupils and resources. On the other hand the Education Secretary Michael Gove who wholeheartedly believes that free schools will end the rationing of good education. He believes that free schools to replace failing comprehensives will give all children access to the kind of education only the rich can afford. He outlines this in Source 1 as well as saying free schools will cut the achievement gap between rich and poor. However , free schools could lead to social segregation as middle class parents are likely to be very keen on them, leading to a situation where middle class and working class people do not mix. This could end up with middle class children going to good schools and working class children remaining in local authority schools where there is very little funding. Another group who are really keen on free schools are faith groups and this could lead to segregation on religious grounds. Standards for school would therefore not rise uniformly for everyone which would be a big disadvantage and there would also be low community cohesion which is explained above. I personally think it is unfair that some pupils dont have the opportunity to go to a high achieving school as I went through this whole school lottery trying for three high achieving schools but I failed to get into any of them, simply because I was out of the catchment area. It is worth setting up free schools in deprived areas where children are forced to go to a low achieving school, so they have the same opportunities that wealthier children have. Michael Gove planned to branch out free schools here after apparent success in America with free schools, where 99 free schools have been established. Evidence suggests that 83% of free schools in the USA are doing no better than their conventional counterparts which brings me to question whether the opening of free schools really are beneficial and whether the opening of them would cut the bridge between rich and poor. However in further research some students in these schools feel that they are in a better position in a free school where they apply rigorous discipline and are challenging. This again makes the idea of free schools questionable. In Source 3, a group of six hundred parents expressed their desire for their children to go to a school other than the local state school. This brings about the conclusion that if this many parents are unhappy with the type of provision of state schooling institutions, something must be done. This opinion is also met with Rachel Wolfs in Source 4 who argues that hundreds of parents have suffered too long from a two tier education system one in which the wealthy can get into the excellent local school by buying a house in the right catchment area or paying school fees, while less off parents are stuck. I believe this is an extremely unfair system and one in which the wealthy seem to have it all and working class citizens are stuck in a never ending rut. In Source 5 another parents view is expressed, where she expresses her desire for a school in which most of its students could walk to and not sending their children 4 miles away. Source 6 promotes the fact that some people are planning to profit from the governments initiative seeking to profit at the expense of the taxpayer states Ed Balls in Source 8. He continues with Since free schools introduced a free schools policy the countrys education standards in maths and scince have plummeted. This Source brings about more negativity on the topic of free schools and questions the beneficial aspects of free schools. Source 7, an extract adapted from the website of the National Union of Teachers promotes an opinion of high negativity towards free schools, of which 24 have opened this September. A quote of this source is This governments attack on state education has to be opposed. Laws to create many more academies and the new so called free schools are an attack on the very existence of free, state comprehensive education which is democratically accountable. It is privatisation on a grand scale and is unacceptable. From my research many people agree with the condemning of free schools with NASUWT stating The free schools programme will be anything but free. Free schools are an unnecessary and costly gamble in educating the countrys children. The Government is simply not acting responsibly by not making clear where the money will come from to fund the free schools policy. Major education programmes have in the last few weeks been cut or frozen. The public would be right to be concerned that money saved from other education programmes will be used to fund the free schools policy. There is yet more negativity on the introduction of free schools with ATL an education union saying Parents or teachers misguided enough to set up a free school will soon find out that running a school needs a lot more than knowing pupils names and an alternative vision of education. It needs knowledge of employment law, health and safety and the admissions code. And private companies are waiting in the wings to provide these services. ATL has produced a directory listing the major organisations which want to get involved in managing state schools Englands schools: not open for business. These all show there is much negativity on free schools. Also NASUWT outlines the fact that it is not clear where the money to fund free schools will come from which brings about the conclusion that the government are taking money from existing state schools which may not benefit the majority of children in the local area. In Source 9 a blogger wrote her opinion which depicts that instead of reducing segregation free schools would in fact increase it, by being highly selective especially for parents who are forcefully ambitious in their choice of school, leaving behind children, for whom there may not be a voice. In Source 10 we look at Sweden, which already has free schools implemented but a person called Per Thulberg who analysed this said schools had not led to better results and Michael Gove contradicted this stating that if parents had more choice then existing schools would be forced to improve, but Per Thurlberg said better results simply came from students with better backgrounds going into those schools. These statistics suggest that free schools may not bring about better results and will not determine that there are better quality schools for the public to choose from which was the point of free schools being created in the first place. Free schools may simply be taking money from the local comprehensive where students may inevitably end up. Another factor which questions the beneficial aspects of free schools are the growing popularity of faith schools demands to build more faith schools in the form of free schools are reportedly growing this is a feature which some say will segregate society further and not promote community cohesion. http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2046715/Richard-Dawkins-attacks-alien-rubbish-taught-Muslim-faith-schools. html http://www. guardian. co.uk/education/2011/oct/04/alarm-over-racial-segregation-london-schools. These articles especially the second depict the racial segregation that faith schools may cause. I think personally that large numbers of faith schools in Britain will not benefit the society as a whole. In conclusion and to be fair and in all honesty it is just too soon to say whether free schools are going to be a good thing and create a more fair educational society for all of us. It is very clear that the present system is not working and puts immense pressure on both parents and children to fulfill the need to attend a good school. Once parents were allowed to see the published national league tables of which schools perform well as opposed to which schools did not, it was only a matter of time before wealthy parents were able to move to a catchment area to secure the best school places for their children leaving behind the poorer child to accept whatever was on offer. This has caused a very great divide in good and average performing schools and caused a lot of low morale for many parents in this country. If free schools can address this major issue it can only be a good thing. However, it can be argued that the odds are stacked against them. In our present times with our bleak economic outlook any system that is trying to get on its feet will gobble a lot of financial resources and one has to look at where this money is coming from and whether our already existing state schools who do not join in will suffer as a result. Competition is whole heartedly healthy generally in a society but not an unfair one where competition takes place in schools where clever kids are already creamed off and able to go to better schools. This can be a major disadvantage and in itself causes segregation of a different sort. I feel that if people are inspired to take on the opportunity of setting up a free school then they probably have a vision of a better , alternative system they are aspiring to which is a good thing as the government has set up a lot of stringent conditions which have to be passed to set up a free school. In all, apathy and not doing anything to address the issues in our schools is a worse misdemeanor than at least trying to see whether free schools hold the answer to our problems and so we can only hope for our future generations that free schools work. As in everything in life only time will tell.

Of Mice and Men Comparison Essay -- essays research papers

In the story, there are two oddly paired men, who travel side by side and support each other with the goal of living the ideal life. In a world of loneliness and trouble, these characters, George and Lennie, find comfort within the presence of each other. Another friendship within the story is between Candy and his dog. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, the author suggests that the friendships between the two sets of individuals have parallel connections. By observing the characters’ position in society, the meaning of their relationship with one another, and the killing of their companion, we can conclude that there are similarities between the two partnerships.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both sets of friends have their designated positions in society. George and Candy act as the supporters in the relationship. Lennie and the dog, however, are dependent upon their supporters to exist in society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ËœYou know how the hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  a month, and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give a damn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  about nobody. It jus’ seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  guy like you travelin’ together.’ (39) Lennie is marginalized as the â€Å"cuckoo† character that is rather unintelligent and useless. George is clearly established as the man with the intelligence and the supporter of Lennie. Slim see...

Fighting, Ruben Wolfe

Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak Fighting Ruben Wolfe is just a novel about teenage boys fighting. Discuss. Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak is not just about teenage boys fighting. It is also about two teenagers growing up with their family facing financial issues and about family relationships. Family in Fighting Ruben Wolfe is shown by the family being brought closer together, but they struggle because the father is currently unemployed and the mother is working two jobs, so it feels like the parents aren’t for their children as much as they were before Mr Wolfe’s accident.Mr and Mrs Wolfe are stressed because they can’t pay all the bills and as a result they can’t look after their children as well as they used to. At the beginning of the book, Sarah comes home drunk and Cameron and Ruben are at the dog track a lot. Once the boys started fighting, Mr and Mrs Wolfe don’t notice the bruises on the boys. These problems for the Wolfe family c learly show that Fighting Ruben Wolfe is just as much about family as fighting. It also shows that the family are facing financial issues. Financial issues in Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak are shown by family having very little money.They have hardly any money because Mr Wolfe is unemployed. In Chapter 6 of Fighting Ruben Wolfe, the first paragraph proves that they have very little money â€Å"The phone has been cut of because we don’t have the money to pay the bill. Or really Mum and Dad don’t have the money to pay it. Steve or Sarah could pay but there’s no way. It’s not allowed. It’s not even considered. † The main two characters, Cameron and Ruben have started to fight illegally so they could earn money to help pay for their bit. So there is fighting in the novel, but it is not just about fighting.These examples demonstrate that there are also financial issues in the novel. Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak is not just a novel about teenage boys fighting, it’s also about two teenagers growing up, showing there struggles in life, and also shows what two normal teenagers will do for their family. But the brother’s soon find out that there not just fighting for money, but also for identity, for dignity, and for each other. When Mr. Wolfe finally accepts that their broke, he goes down to Centrelink to get the doll. But as proud as Cameron and Ruben are, they go and try to stop him.Finally the parents find out that they fight. They don’t act kindly to this at the start, but then they realize how important this is to them and then they let them still compete. They keep on fighting and end up fighting each other in the end, but because both brothers are very series about their fighting, the fight series and Ruben defeats Cameron, But Cameron is very proud and didn’t give up till the very wnd. This book has taught me to be grateful for what I have and to always respect my family, this book was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. By Liam Truscott 9a

National Statistics of Health Essay

Government statistics The office of National Statistics providing a large range of health and care issues, Publications includes Social Trends and, for more detailed information on health issues, Health Statistical Quarterly. The publication provide a wide range of statistics on birth rates and death rates; infant mortality rate and suicide rates as well as appointments GP’s surgeries and hospital admissions, and these are looked into as social class, gender, age and geographical location. Government statistics also includes the morbidity rates rather than just the mortality rates, which is the amount of people in a specified period of particular diseases in probably a year. They question if it has increased or decreased, then for to be more open and specific they look in to sex, age, geographical location and social class. They will precisely measure the morbidity rates, measured in terms of prevalence of a disease; the total number of cases of specific disease in a certain time and population. Mortality rates and infant mortality rates are usually made for a indicator of health and well-being of population as a whole. Health and well being may be declining within those groups is assumed is a sign, when they are higher or rising in a particular location, or among a particular social group leads to this lie in their social and economic environment. Mortality rates are collected from the official and necessary registration of death. Mortality rates are gathered from the different sources counting GP and hospital appointments, hospital admissions and the registration well known diseases. There has been more according of measuring levels of ill health. Difficulties in measuring health Always important to quote the source of the data when referring to statistics and using them in your work. Statistics should always be treated with awareness. You may not get an accurate picture of health and ill health when the statistics are gathered from official sources. For example some people who aren’t ill assume they are and attend to the doctors, and the ones that are don’t proceed to go to the doctors. Doctors could also assume two different diagnoses, for example one of the patients has been described as depressed just because they feel low and have no energy, as the other patient could be diagnose by post- viral fatigue syndrome. Another doctor  could simply say it’s an result of just them not wanting to go to work. Social class and patterns of health and illness Social Class is linked to health because of four different reasons highlighted in the Black Report, The artifact approach is where the data between the higher and lower classes is not accurate enough, it’s a result of the way the data is source and collected. The social selection explanation is when people who are fitter and in better health have a better chance of being employed in better jobs. In comparison to people in lower social groups according to this theory will suffer more ill health and premature death because they are naturally less healthy and fit. Cultural explanations is when lifestyle choices are made regarding diet, smoking, exercise have an impact and make people less healthy than others in the higher social groups. People from the lower class occupations work in more manual situations than the upper class occupations. This can have a bad effect on the manual workers health as they are exposed to lifting and harmful environments. Statistics are treated with c aution however there is a great amount of evidence that health, ill health and life expectancy are unsure according to social group and importantly social class. People with a higher class are living better and enjoying better health, rather than the lower social group. The Black (Townsend et al), report the most influential modern studies that consider the reasons of differences. And following of by that are the Acheson Report (1998) defining and explaining comprehensive explanations of the relationships, with in the social and environment factors and health illness and life expectancy. The Black Report introduced four types of explanations of ways that will account for the differences in levels of illness and life expectancy, experienced by variety of social classes. The researches were made to think that the changes in health and well being were affected by how much their pay rate is; their income which then affects the environment they live in, quality and housing. There are four sociological explanations, 1 the statistical artefact explanation, 2 material or structural explanations, 3 cultural or behaviour explanations and number 4, the natural or social selection. The statistical artefact explanation The Black Report explains that the differences could not be defined by the point that the statistics produced a biased picture. They disagreed with people in the lower social class had a higher number of older people and people working in the usual ways to be in more dangerous industries , and would expect that they would have higher levels in illness, then the more younger people working in offices, cal centres and the other services industries. This shows that it’s not much of a social class more about the age, structure and patterns of employment of people, in the lowest classes which really describe the differences. Recently there has still been shown of links between the low social class and high levels of illness and lower life expectancy even when it has been researched for the bias in employment and age. Natural or Social selection The reason for illness is apparently associated to having low wages, poverty, poor housing making people ill in the lower social class. It’s also been said that there is higher infant mortality rates and lower life expectancy for adults; however, it is the other way round. The people in the lower social class being in poor health aim for promotions and success. On the other had this explanation for sociologist is denied , they think because there is evidence to show that ill health is caused by the deprived reason other than making it happen. Cultural or behavioural explanations This concentrates on the choices and life decision people make, their life styles and behaviour in the lower social classes. They explain evidence with people in lower class, smoke more, drink more, eat more junk food and have lack in exercise, according to having a poor life style. Also are more likely to die of heart disease, form of cancer, bronchitis and diabetes all because of the poor lifestyle choices. They smoke and drink to help them cope with their life difficult circumstances that come across, not the other way round. Material or structural explanations The material explanation is known to think the social groups for whom life expectancy is less, and the infant whom mortality rates are to go higher. Suffering poorer health then the other groups, straight forward explanation for that are inequalities in wealth and income. Poverty occurs when having  low incomes, which then leads to having poor diets, lacking in everything else they need to live every day.

odyssey essay

odyssey essay odyssey essay Edgardo Gutierrez Ms. M. helm English 9 ADV May 21, 2014 The Ultimate Heroes It’s very hard to lose the people around your life. Even temporarily it’s not easy to manage without the people you love. Odysseus waited 20 years of his life without any contact of his family in this epic titled â€Å"The Odysseus† by Homer. Odysseus is in a 10 year war and faces many obstacles on his journey back home. Meanwhile his family is struggling with his absence. Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus all possess the heroic traits of cleverness, strength, and bravery. Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus are all heroic because of their cleverness. â€Å"†¦We could see her working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stiches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three ways†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Homer 30). This shows Penelope’s cleverness behind evaluating her verbal agreement with the suitors and finding a flaw she can exploit. This was important because if not for her wit Odysseus wouldn’t have a home to return to. Telemachus helps his father regain his throne by helping to make a plan to trap the suitors. This portrays Telemachus intellect by recognizing he’s outnumbered and using is wit to overcome the overwhelming odds. This is important because with his help Odysseus was able to get rid of the suitors from their home. Odysseus uses the â€Å"wooden horse trick† to win the Trojan War. This portrays Odysseus cleverness when devising such a great plan for it to end after fighting 1 0 long years. This is vital because it defines Odysseus not only of strength but also of brain. In these various examples our heroes have proven themselves by their outstanding achievement and use of cleverness to overcome all odds. Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus are all heroic because they are strong. Penelope stays faithful to Odysseus for 20 years. This shows her everlasting faith in her husband, with no shred of proof he’s still even alive, but yet she still believed. That type of mental insight is what pilled her through those 20 years and is also what makes her the hero she is. Odysseus survives 10 years of carnage in the Trojan War. This clearly illustrates his strength as a warrior to survive for such an extensive period of time on enemy soil. This is a key characteristic that defines Odysseys not only as a warrior but also as a hero. â€Å"So these now fell upon the suitors in that hall† (Homer 400). This refers to Telemachus and his father defeating the suitors, proving even as a novice warrior he is still very fierce. This proves he meets his father as a man and a rightful heir to the throne. Strength can be portrayed in

Researching the Civil War Soldiers in Your Family Tree

Researching the Civil War Soldiers in Your Family Tree The American Civil War, fought from 1861-1865, affected nearly every man, woman, and child living in the United States. Almost 3.5 million soldiers are believed to have been involved, with around 360,000 Union soldiers and 260,000 Confederate soldiers losing their lives as a direct result of the war. Given the dramatic impact of this conflict, if your ancestors lived in the United States during this time, it is likely that youll find at least one Civil War soldier in your family tree. Locating a Civil War ancestor, whether it is a direct ancestor or a collateral relative, can provide another source of information on your family tree. Civil War pension files, for example, contain statements of family relationships, dates and places of marriage, and lists of various places the soldier lived after the war. Muster-in rolls often contain places of birth, as do descriptive rolls. Before You Begin the soldiers namewhether he served for the Union or Confederate armythe state from which the soldier served In Which Unit Did Your Soldier Serve? Once youve determined the state from which your Civil War ancestor likely served, the next helpful step is to learn which company and regiment to which he was assigned. If your ancestor was a Union soldier, he may have been part of the U.S. Regulars, a unit of the United States Army. More likely he was a member of a volunteer regiment raised by his home state, such as the 11th Virginia Volunteers or the 4th Maine Volunteer Infantry. If your Civil War ancestor was an artilleryman, you may find him in a battery unit such as Battery B, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery or Battery A, 1st North Carolina Artillery, also called Manlys Battery. African-American soldiers served in regiments ending with U.S.C.T. which stands for United States Colored Troops. These regiments also had Caucasian officers. While infantry regiments were the most common type of service unit of the Civil War, there were many other branches of service on both sides - Union and Confederate. Your Civil War ancestor may have been in a heavy artillery regiment, cavalry, engineers or even the navy. There are many ways to learn the regiment in which your ancestor served. Begin at home, by asking your parents, grandparents and other relatives. Check photo albums and other old family records as well. If you know where the solider is buried, his tombstone may list his state and unit number. If you know the county where the soldier lived when he enlisted, then county histories or other county resources should provide details of the units formed in the area. Neighbors and family members often enlisted together, which may provide further clues. Even if you only know the state in which your Civil War ancestor served, most states compiled and published a list of the soldiers in each unit from that state. These can often be found at a libraries with a local history or genealogical collection. Some lists have also been partially published online. There are also two country-wide published series that list the soldiers who served in the Union or Confederate armies during the war, along with their regiments: The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 (Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing) - A 33-volume set that lists all of the men who served in the Union armies by state, regiment and company.The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 - A 16-volume set that lists all of the individuals who served in the southern armies during the war, by state and organization. Civil War Soldiers Sailors System (CWSS) sponsored by the National Park Service. The system features an on-line database of names of soldiers, sailors, and United States Colored Troops who served in the Civil War based on records at the National Archives. The subscription-based U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles collection at Ancestry.com and the American Civil War Research Database are other excellent resources for online Civil War research. They will cost you, but both generally offer further details than the CWSS database. If your ancestor has a common name, however, it may be difficult to distinguish him in these lists until you have identified his location and regiment. are other excellent resources for online Civil War research. They will cost you, but both generally offer further details than the CWSS database. If your ancestor has a common name, however, it may be difficult to distinguish him in these lists until you have identified his location and regiment. Once youve determined your Civil War soldiers name, state and regiment, its time to turn to service records and pension records, the meat of Civil War research. Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) Whether fighting for the Union or the Confederacy, each volunteer soldier who served in the Civil War will have a Compiled Military Service Record for each regiment in which he served. The majority of Civil War soldiers served in volunteer regiments, distinguishing them from individuals serving in the regular U.S. Army. The CMSR contains basic information about the soldiers military career, when and where he enlisted, when he was present or absent from camp, amount of bounty paid, how long he served, and when and where he was discharged, or died. Additional detail, when pertinent, may also be included, including information on hospitalization for injury or illness, capture as a prisoner of war, courts martial, etc. The CMSR is an envelope (called a jacket) containing one or more cards. Each card contains information compiled several years after the Civil War from original muster rolls and other records that survived the war. This includes Confederate records captured by the Union armies. How to Obtain Copies of Compiled Military Service Records Online from Fold3.com – Fold3.com, in collaboration with the National Archives, has digitized CMSRs from most states, both Confederate and Union, and put them online where they can be viewed and downloaded for a fee. CMSRs are currently available for most, but not all states at Fold3.com.Order Online from the National Archives – You can order Civil War Service records from the National Archives online or by mail for a fee. To use this service, you will need the soldiers name, regiment, state and allegiance. If you prefer to order a copy by mail, you will need to download and use NATF Form 86. Civil War Pension Records Most Union Civil War soldiers, or their widows or other dependents, applied for a pension from the U.S. federal government. The biggest exception were unmarried soldiers who died during or soon after the war. Confederate pensions, on the other hand, were generally only available for disabled or indigent soldiers, and sometimes their dependents. Union Civil War Pension Records are available from the National Archives. Indexes to these Union pension records are available online by subscription at Fold3.com and Ancestry.com (subscription links). Copies of the full Union Pension File (often containing dozens of pages) and be ordered online or by mail from the National Archives. Confederate Civil War Pension Records can generally be found in the appropriate State Archives or equivalent agency. Some states have also put indexes to or even digitized copies of their Confederate pension records online.Confederate Pension Records – A State by State Guide