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The Civil War Confiscation Acts: Failing to Reconstruct the South

John Syrett

This book is the first full account in more than 20 years of two significant, but relatively understudied, laws passed during the Civil War. The Confiscation Acts (1861–62) were designed to sanction ... More

This book is the first full account in more than 20 years of two significant, but relatively understudied, laws passed during the Civil War. The Confiscation Acts (1861–62) were designed to sanction slave holding states by authorizing the Federal Government to seize rebel properties (including land and other assets held in Northern and border states) and grant freedom to slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military. Abraham Lincoln objected to the Acts for fear they might push border states, particularly Missouri and Kentucky, into secession. The Acts were eventually rendered moot by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. The author examines the political contexts of the Acts, especially the debates in Congress, and demonstrates how the failure of the Confiscation Acts during the war presaged the political and structural shortcomings of Reconstruction after the war.Less

Constitutionalism in the Approach and Aftermath of the Civil War

Paul D. Moreno and Jonathan O'Neill (eds)

This collection of essays shows how the constitutional aspects of the Civil War were part of American politics for a long time before and after the conflict by examining developments from the ... More

This collection of essays shows how the constitutional aspects of the Civil War were part of American politics for a long time before and after the conflict by examining developments from the founding era to the Progressive era. The contributors, both political theorists and historians, consider constitutional issues leading to the Civil War, the crucial role of Abraham Lincoln's statesmanship, and how the constitutional aspects of the War and Reconstruction endured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The authors range widely: from George Washington's conception of the Union and his fears for its future to Martin Van Buren's state-centered, anti-secessionist federalism; from Lincoln's approach to citizenship for African-Americans to Woodrow Wilson's attempt to appropriate Lincoln for the goals of Progressivism. Each topic involves the constitutional causes or consequences of the War, and the authors emphasize how constitutional ideas shape political activity and are not merely derived from other processes. This shared approach shows that constitutional principles are in this sense “configurative” of political life. Accordingly, the chapters place important figures, disputes, and judicial decisions within the broader context of the constitutional system. The aim is to explain how ideas and institutions, independently and in dialogue with the courts, have oriented political action and shaped events over time. This approach is particularly appropriate to the subject matter because the constitutional conflicts resulting in the Civil War roiled just under the surface of American politics since the founding, and reverberated for generations after the fighting ceased.Less

Deserter Country: Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians

Robert M. Sandow

During the Civil War, there were throughout the Union explosions of resistance to the war–from the deadly Draft Riots in New York City to other, less well-known outbreaks. In this book, the author ... More

During the Civil War, there were throughout the Union explosions of resistance to the war–from the deadly Draft Riots in New York City to other, less well-known outbreaks. In this book, the author explores one of these least known inner civil wars, the widespread, sometimes violent opposition in the Appalachian lumber country of Pennsylvania. Sparsely settled, these mountains were home to divided communities that provided a safe-haven for opponents of the war. The dissent of mountain folk reflected their own marginality in the face of rapidly increasing exploitation of timber resources by big firms, as well as partisan debates over loyalty. One of the few studies of the northern Appalachians, this book draws revealing parallels to the War in the southern mountains, exploring the roots of rural protest in frontier development, the market economy, military policy, partisan debate, and everyday resistance. The author also sheds new light on the party politics of rural resistance, rejecting easy depictions of war-opponents as traitors and malcontents for a more nuanced and complicated study of the class, economic upheaval, and localism.Less

First Among Equals: Abraham Lincoln's Reputation During His Administration

Hans L. Trefousse

One hundred and forty years after his assassination on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln towers more than ever above the landscape of American politics. In myth and memory, he is always the Great ... More

One hundred and forty years after his assassination on April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln towers more than ever above the landscape of American politics. In myth and memory, he is always the Great Emancipator and savior of the Union, second in stature only to George Washington. But was Lincoln always so exalted? Was he, as some historians argue, a poor President, deeply disliked, whose legacy was ennobled only by John Wilkes Booth's bullet? In this fascinating book, a leading historian finally takes the full measure of Lincoln's reputation. Drawing on a remarkable range of primary documents—speeches, newspaper accounts and editorials, private letters, memoirs, and other sources—the book gives us the voices of Lincoln's own time. From North and South, at home and abroad, here are politicians and ordinary people, soldiers and statesmen, abolitionists and slaveholders alike, in a rich chorus of American opinion. The result is a masterly portrait of Lincoln the President in the eyes of his fellow Americans.Less

The Great Task Remaining Before Us: Reconstruction as America's Continuing Civil War

Paul A. Cimbala and Randall M. Miller (eds)

Through informative case studies, this illuminating book remaps considerations of the Civil War and reconstruction era by charting the ways in which the needs, interests, and ... More

Through informative case studies, this illuminating book remaps considerations of the Civil War and reconstruction era by charting the ways in which the needs, interests, and experiences of going to war, fighting it, and making sense of it informed and directed politics, public life, social change, and cultural memory after the war's end. In doing so, it shows that the war did not actually end with Lee's surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln's assassination in Washington. As the chapters show, major issues remained, including defining freedom; rebuilding the South; integrating women and blacks into postwar society, culture, and politics; deciding the place of the military in public life; demobilizing or redeploying soldiers; organizing a new party system; and determining the scope and meanings of union.Less

Lincoln and Leadership: Military, Political, and Religious Decision Making

Randall M. Miller (ed.)

This book of original essays on “Lincoln and Leadership,” by leading Lincoln and Civil War scholars, explores Lincoln’s understandings and uses of leadership during the Civil War. The essays focus ... More

This book of original essays on “Lincoln and Leadership,” by leading Lincoln and Civil War scholars, explores Lincoln’s understandings and uses of leadership during the Civil War. The essays focus especially on Lincoln as Commander in Chief and war president, as party leader, and as moral guide by looking at his talents and practices in decision-making in critical moments of his presidency. They assess the myths of Lincoln by examining his ability to understand and direct military strategy, communicate with military men, shape public opinion, manage party affairs, move himself and the nation toward emancipation as policy and then as fact, accept the use of black troops, grapple with the moral and religious meaning of the war, empathize with the sufferings of his people, and explain the purpose of the war to the nation and posterity. They emphasize Lincoln’s ability to establish priorities, most especially the preservation of the Union and democratic government at all costs and the realization of the promise of freedom embodied in the Declaration of Independence, which gave Lincoln a unity of purpose and clarity that informed and emboldened his leadership, while they also show Lincoln’s flexibility as to means, which gave Lincoln the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, deal with contending interests, and gain support for his policies.Less

The Lincoln Assassination: Crime and Punishment, Myth and Memory A Lincoln Forum Book

Harold Holzer, Craig L. Symonds, and Frank J. Williams (eds)

The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most prominent events in U.S. history. It continues to attract enormous and intense interest from scholars, writers, and armchair ... More

The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most prominent events in U.S. history. It continues to attract enormous and intense interest from scholars, writers, and armchair historians alike, ranging from painstaking new research to wild-eyed speculation. Written at the end of the Lincoln bicentennial year, and the onset of the Civil War sesquicentennial, this book offers the latest studies and arguments about the assassination, its aftermath, the extraordinary public reaction (which was more complex than has been previously believed), and the iconography that Lincoln's murder and deification inspired. Chapters also offer up-to-date accounts of the parallel legal event of the summer of 1865—the relentless pursuit, prosecution, and punishment of the conspirators. Everything from graphic tributes to religious sermons, to spontaneous outbursts on the streets of the nation's cities, to emotional mass-mourning at carefully organized funerals, as well as the imposition of military jurisprudence to try the conspirators, is examined in the light of fresh evidence and insightful analysis.Less

Lincoln Revisited: New Insights from the Lincoln Forum

Harold Holzer and Dawn Vogel

John Y. Simon (ed.)

In February 2009, America celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and the pace of new Lincoln books and articles has already quickened. From his cabinet's politics to his own ... More

In February 2009, America celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and the pace of new Lincoln books and articles has already quickened. From his cabinet's politics to his own struggles with depression, Lincoln remains the most written-about story in our history. Each year historians find something new and important to say about the greatest of our Presidents. This is a guidebook to what is new and what is noteworthy in this unfolding story — a gathering of fresh scholarship by Lincoln historians of our time. Brought together by The Lincoln Forum, they tackle uncharted territory and emerging questions; they also take a new look at established debates — including those about their own landmark works. Here, historians revisit key chapters in Lincoln's legacy — from Matthew Pinsker on Lincoln's private life and Jean Baker on religion and the Lincoln marriage to Geoffrey Perret on Lincoln as leader and Frank J. Williams on Lincoln and civil liberties in wartime. The eighteen essays explore every corner of Lincoln's world — religion and politics, slavery and sovereignty, presidential leadership and the rule of law, the Second Inaugural Address and the assassination. In his 1947 classic, Lincoln Reconsidered, David Herbert Donald confronted the Lincoln myth. Today, the scholars in this study give a new generation of students, scholars, and citizens the perspectives vital for understanding the constantly reinterpreted genius of Abraham Lincoln.Less

New Men: Reconstructing the Image of the Veteran in Late-Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture

John Casey

New Men examines the reentry into civilian life of Civil War soldiers and exposes a growing gap between how former soldiers saw themselves and the representations of them created by ... More

New Men examines the reentry into civilian life of Civil War soldiers and exposes a growing gap between how former soldiers saw themselves and the representations of them created by late-nineteenth-century American society. In the early years following the Civil War, the concept of the “veteran” functioned as a marker for what was assumed by soldiers and civilians alike to be a temporary social status that ended definitively with army demobilization and the successful attainment of civilian employment. Over time this term was reconstructed to represent a new identity distinct from that of the civilian population. Uncovering the tension between veterans and civilians in the postwar era adds a new dimension to our understanding of the legacy of the Civil War. Reconstruction involved more than simply the road to reunion and its attendant conflicts over race relations in the United States. It also pointed toward the frustrating search for a proper metaphor to explain what soldiers had endured. This halting search helps clarify the persistent description of the Civil War by literary critics as an unwritten war, and serves as a harbinger for our experience representing veterans today as they come home from the battlefield.Less

On the Edge of Freedom: The Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1820–1870

David G. Smith

In On the Edge of Freedom, David G. Smith breaks new ground by illuminating the unique development of antislavery sentiment in south central Pennsylvania—a border region of a border state with a ... More

In On the Edge of Freedom, David G. Smith breaks new ground by illuminating the unique development of antislavery sentiment in south central Pennsylvania—a border region of a border state with a complicated history of slavery, antislavery activism, and unequal freedom. During the antebellum decades every single fugitive slave escaping by land east of the Appalachian Mountains had to pass through the region, where they faced both significant opportunities and substantial risks. While the hundreds of fugitives traveling through south central Pennsylvania (defined as Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland counties) during this period were aided by an effective Underground Railroad, they also faced slave catchers and informers. “Underground” work such as helping fugitive slaves appealed to border antislavery activists who shied away from agitating for immediate abolition in a region with social, economic, and kinship ties to the South. And, as early antislavery protests met fierce resistance, area activists adopted a less confrontational approach, employing the more traditional political tools of the petition and legal action. Smith traces the victories of antislavery activists in south central Pennsylvania, including the achievement of a strong personal liberty law and the aggressive prosecution of kidnappers who seized innocent African Americans as fugitives. He also documents how their success provoked Southern retaliation and the passage of a strengthened Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. The Civil War then intensified the debate over fugitive slaves, as hundreds of escaping slaves, called “contrabands,” sought safety in the area, and scores were recaptured by the Confederate army during the Gettysburg campaign. On the Edge of Freedom explores in captivating detail the fugitive slave issue through fifty years of sectional conflict, war, and reconstruction in south central Pennsylvania and provocatively questions what was gained by the activists’ pragmatic approach of emphasizing fugitive slaves over immediate abolition and full equality. Smith argues that after the war, social and demographic changes in southern Pennsylvania worked against African Americans’ achieving equal opportunity, and although local literature portrayed this area as a vanguard of the Underground Railroad, African Americans still lived “on the edge of freedom.” By the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was rallying near the Gettysburg battlefield, and south central Pennsylvania became, in some ways, as segregated as the Jim Crow South. The fugitive slave issue, by reinforcing images of dependency, may have actually worked against the achievement of lasting social change.Less

Remaking North American Sovereignty: State Transformation in the 1860s

Jewel L. Spangler and Frank Towers (eds)

This book explores the tumultuous history of North American state-making in the middle decades of the nineteenth century from a continental perspective. Today’s political map took its basic shape in ... More

This book explores the tumultuous history of North American state-making in the middle decades of the nineteenth century from a continental perspective. Today’s political map took its basic shape in the continental crisis of the 1860s, marked by Canadian Confederation (1867), the end of the U.S. Civil War (1865), the restoration of the Mexican Republic (1867), and numerous wars and treaty regimes conducted between these states and indigenous peoples through the 1870s. This crisis transformed the continent from a patchwork of foreign empires, republics, indigenous polities, and contested no-mans-lands into the nation states of Mexico and the United States and the Dominion of Canada, an expanding, largely self-governing polity within the British Empire. Key to this process was the question of sovereignty, or the power to rule. Battles over sovereignty ran through the struggles waged not only by the nation states that came to dominate the North America, but also those that failed, like the Confederate States of America, and others—like the European empires and indigenous peoples—that came into conflict with the three main states. In light of the global turn in 19th-century historiography, this book examines these political crises as an inter-related struggle to redefine the relationship of North Americans to new governments. This volume brings together distinguished experts on the history of Canada, indigenous Americans, Mexico, and the United States to re-evaluate an era of political transformation that has had profound consequences for the future of the continent.Less

The Retreats of Reconstruction: Race, Leisure, and the Politics of Segregation at the New Jersey Shore, 1865-1920

David E. Goldberg

This study examines how the history of de facto segregation at the New Jersey shore—as both a policy and an idea—was connected to competing ideas about the rights of consumers and the economic and ... More

This study examines how the history of de facto segregation at the New Jersey shore—as both a policy and an idea—was connected to competing ideas about the rights of consumers and the economic and environmental health of consumer districts. Weaving together histories of race, leisure, and consumption, this book argues that the various consumer ideologies that emerged in battles over segregation proved every bit as powerful in limiting the scope of civil rights activism as free labor ideology and white supremacy did. While African Americans used the claim of consumer rights and public health to contest Jim Crow, defend black-owned leisure districts, and push for environmental protections, white northerners ultimately blocked claims to integrated leisure by adopting a producer driven vision of mass consumption that separated the right to consume from the right to integration. Beginning in the 1890s, local business leaders justified segregated leisure by disguising talk of race with a capitalist vocabulary of consumer choice, commercial development, and greater prosperity. Likewise, the African-American business class increasingly adopted the position that protecting their right to consume and securing environmental protections in black-owned leisure spaces was more important than fighting for integrated leisure. By the 1920s, these decisions helped popularize the political culture of “separate but equal” and drove civil rights activists away from strategies of protest and confrontation to those that favored political compromise and economic self-defense.Less

Summers with Lincoln: Looking for the Man in the Monuments

James A. Percoco

Across the country, in the middle of busy city squares and hidden on quiet streets, there are nearly 200 statues erected in memory of Abraham Lincoln. No other American has ever been ... More

Across the country, in the middle of busy city squares and hidden on quiet streets, there are nearly 200 statues erected in memory of Abraham Lincoln. No other American has ever been so widely commemorated. A few years ago, anticipating the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth in 2009, the author, a history teacher with a passion for both Lincoln and public sculpture, set off to see what he might learn about some of these monuments—what they meant when they were unveiled, and what they mean to us today. The result is this book, a chronicle of four summers on the road looking for Lincoln stories in statues of marble and bronze. Of all the monuments, the author selects seven emblematic ones. He begins and ends the journey in Washington, starting with Thomas Ball's Emancipation Group, erected east of the Capitol in 1876 with private funds from African Americans, and dedicated by Frederick Douglass. Here, the author and his multi-ethnic band of teenage historians explore the impact of this Freedman's Monument showing Lincoln and a kneeling freed bondsperson. What does the statute say about race and freedom to today's Americans? What did Ball—and his sponsors—want it to say? From Augustus Saint-Gaudens's majestic Standing Lincoln of 1887 in Chicago, which helped move our image of Lincoln from great emancipator to that of statesman, to Paul Manship's 1932 Lincoln the Hoosier Youth, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which glows with an art deco sleekness, the author mines a wealth of Lincoln legacies—and our reactions to them expressed across generations. Here are controversial gems like Barnard's 1917 tribute in Cincinnati and Borglum's Seated Lincoln, struggling with the pain of leadership, beckoning visitors to sit next to him on his metal bench in Newark, New Jersey. At each stop, the author chronicles the history of each monument, spotlighting its artistic, social, political, and cultural origins. His descriptions of works so often seen as clichés tease fresh meaning from mute stone and cold metal—raising provocative questions not just about who Lincoln might have been, but also about what we've wanted him to be in the monuments we've built.Less

Union Combined Operations in the Civil War

Craig L. Symonds (ed.)

Despite a wealth of books on the campaigns of the American Civil War, the subject of combined or joint operations has been largely neglected. This revealing book offers ten case studies of combined ... More

Despite a wealth of books on the campaigns of the American Civil War, the subject of combined or joint operations has been largely neglected. This revealing book offers ten case studies of combined army–navy operations by Union forces. Presented in chronological order, each chapter illuminates an aspect of combined operations during a time of changing technology and doctrine. The chapters cover the war along the rebel coast, including the operations in the North Carolina Sounds in 1861, the Union thrusts up the York and James rivers during the Peninsular Campaign in 1862 and 1864, and the various Union efforts to seize rebel seaports from the Texas coast to Charleston and Wilmington in 1863–5. Concluding the volume are two chapters that evaluate the impact of Union combined operations on subsequent doctrine in both the United States and England.Less

Victor Herbert: A Theatrical Life

Neil Gould

Victor Herbert is one of the giants of American culture. As a musician, conductor, and, above all, composer, he touched every corner of American musical life at the turn of the century, writing ... More

Victor Herbert is one of the giants of American culture. As a musician, conductor, and, above all, composer, he touched every corner of American musical life at the turn of the century, writing scores of songs, marches, concerti, and other works. But his most enduring legacy is on a different kind of stage, as one of the grandfathers of the modern musical theater. Mining a wealth of sources, this book provides a portrait of Herbert and his world. Born in Dublin in 1859, Herbert arrived in the United States in 1886. From his first job in the orchestra pit of the Metropolitan Opera, Herbert went on to perform in countless festivals and concerts, and conduct the Pittsburgh Orchestra. In 1894, he composed his first operetta, Prince Ananias, and by the time of his death in 1924, he'd composed forty-two more—many of them, such as Naughty Marietta, spectacular Broadway hits. Along the way, he also wrote two operas, stage music for the Ziegfeld Follies, and the first full score for a motion picture, The Fall of a Nation. This book blends the musical and the theatrical, classical and popular, the public and the private. It not only gives a revealing portrait of Herbert the artist, entrepreneur, and visionary, but also recreates the vibrant world of the Herbert's Broadway. This book is also a chronicle of American popular culture during one of its most creative periods.Less