The World the Civil War Made

Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era

by Gregory P. Downs (Editor), Kate Masur (Editor)

At the close of the Civil War, it was clear that the military conflict that began in South Carolina and was fought largely east of the Mississippi River had changed the politics, policy, and daily life of the entire nation. In an expansive reimagining of post–Civil War America, the essays in this volume explore these profound changes not only in the South but also in the Southwest, in the Great Plains, and abroad. Resisting the tendency to use Reconstruction as a catchall, the contributors instead present diverse histories of a postwar nation that stubbornly refused to adopt a unified ideology and remained violently in flux. Portraying the social and political landscape of postbellum America writ large, this volume demonstrates that by breaking the boundaries of region and race and moving past existing critical frameworks, we can appreciate more fully the competing and often contradictory ideas about freedom and equality that continued to define the United States and its place in the nineteenth-century world.

Contributors include Amanda Claybaugh, Laura F. Edwards, Crystal N. Feimster, C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa, Steven Hahn, Luke E. Harlow, Stephen Kantrowitz, Barbara Krauthamer, K. Stephen Prince, Stacey L. Smith, Amy Dru Stanley, Kidada E. Williams, and Andrew Zimmerman.

Genres: History

392 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2015

Reviews

[Ash Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

perhaps it’s because i’m not a historian by training, but i found this essay collection painful to read. it’s a fantastic concept that, i believe, would have been better served by a single author to emphasize cohesiveness and better synthesize the qualities of the changed postbellum world.

[Jim Gulley · Rating 4 out of 5]

a series of essays on the aftermath of the Civil War

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the reconstruction period after the Civil War and its effect on civil rights, politics as well as general attitudes that are still present today. Point well made is that in school we are not taught much about the War and almost nothing after Appomattox. This is an import part of our history and helped to explain how we got to where we are.

[Sarah Gardner]

4.5 stars. Provocative.