Contra: American History

Neither of the American Revolution nor the Civil War had any linguistic element. During the War of American Independence the British press was freely understood by the Americans, and vice versa. It should be pointed out that communication took over a month in either direction across the Atlantic Ocean.

During the US Civil War there was no linguistic element at all. I suspect that the variations in dialect of American English were smaller back then, since all Americans were closer to their English roots in time. However, the strongest media, the newspapers, was very regional. Papers published in New York by Horace Greeley (slavery opponent) wouldn't have been available widely in the South, nor would Augusta's Daily Constitutionalist been widely distribruted in New York City. Effort would have to be made to learn more about the other side, an effort not likely to be made.