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The Union war

Even one hundred and fifty years later, we are haunted by the Civil War, by its division, its bloodshed, and its origins. Today, many believe that the war was fought over slavery. This answer satisfies our contemporary sense of justice, but as the author shows in this revisionist history, it is an a...

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Main Author: Gallagher, Gary W.
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2011.
Subjects:
Addison, Arnold tribute.
Political culture > United States > History > 19th century.
United States > History > Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States > Politics and government > 1861-1865.
Summary: Even one hundred and fifty years later, we are haunted by the Civil War, by its division, its bloodshed, and its origins. Today, many believe that the war was fought over slavery. This answer satisfies our contemporary sense of justice, but as the author shows in this revisionist history, it is an anachronistic judgment. In a searing analysis of the Civil War North as revealed in contemporary letters, diaries, and documents, he demonstrates that what motivated the North to go to war and persist in an increasingly bloody effort was primarily preservation of the Union. Devotion to the Union bonded nineteenth-century Americans in the North and West against a slaveholding aristocracy in the South and a Europe that seemed destined for oligarchy. Northerners believed they were fighting to save the republic, and with it the world's best hope for democracy. Once we understand the centrality of union, we can in turn appreciate the force that made northern victory possible: the citizen-soldier. The author reveals how the massive volunteer army of the North fought to confirm American exceptionalism by salvaging the Union. Contemporary concerns have distorted the reality of nineteenth-century Americans, who embraced emancipation primarily to punish secessionists and remove slavery as a future threat to union goals that emerged in the process of war. As the book recovers why and how the Civil War was fought, we gain a more honest understanding of why and how it was won.
Physical Description: 215 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 9780674045620 (alk. paper)
0674045629 (alk. paper)
Author Notes: Gary W Gallagher is a civil war historian with a special interest in the military aspects of the war. He is the author or co-author of several books including Lee and His Generals in War and Memory and The Confederate War. He has also served as President of the Association of Preservation of Civil War sites. He is a professor of history at the University of Virginia.

(Bowker Author Biography)

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