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Why the Civil War Came
In the early morning of April 12, 1861, Captain George S. James ordered the bombardment of Fort Sumter, beginning a war that would last four horrific years and claim a staggering number of lives. Since that fateful day, the debate over the causes of the American Civil War has never ceased.
What events were instrumental in bringing it about? How did individuals and institutions function? What did Northerners and Southerners believe in the decades of strife preceding the war? What steps did they take to avoid war? Indeed, was the great armed conflict avoidable at all?
Why the Civil War Came brings a talented chorus of voices together to recapture the feel of a very different time and place, helping the reader to grasp more fully the commencement of our bloodiest war. From William W. Freehling's discussion of the peculiarities of North American slavery to Charles
Royster's disturbing piece on the combatants' savage readiness to fight, the contributors bring to life the climate of a country on the brink of disaster. Mark Summers, for instance, depicts the tragically jubilant first weeks of Northern recruitment, when Americans on both sides were as yet unaware
of the hellish slaughter that awaited them. Glenna Matthews underscores the important war-catalyzing role played by extraordinary public women, who proved that neither side of the Mason-Dixon line was as patriarchal as is thought. David Blight reveals an African-American world that "knew what time
it was," and welcomed war. And Gabor Boritt examines the struggle's central figure, Lincoln himself, illuminating in the years leading up to the war a blindness on the future president's part, an unwillingness to confront the looming calamity that was about to smash the nation asunder.
William E. Gienapp notes perhaps the most unsettling fact about the Civil War, that democratic institutions could not resolve the slavery issue without resorting to violence on an epic scale. With gripping detail, Why the Civil War Came takes readers back to a country fraught with bitterness,
confusion, and hatred--a country ripe for a war of unprecedented bloodshed--to show why democracy failed, and violence reigned.
What events were instrumental in bringing it about? How did individuals and institutions function? What did Northerners and Southerners believe in the decades of strife preceding the war? What steps did they take to avoid war? Indeed, was the great armed conflict avoidable at all?
Why the Civil War Came brings a talented chorus of voices together to recapture the feel of a very different time and place, helping the reader to grasp more fully the commencement of our bloodiest war. From William W. Freehling's discussion of the peculiarities of North American slavery to Charles
Royster's disturbing piece on the combatants' savage readiness to fight, the contributors bring to life the climate of a country on the brink of disaster. Mark Summers, for instance, depicts the tragically jubilant first weeks of Northern recruitment, when Americans on both sides were as yet unaware
of the hellish slaughter that awaited them. Glenna Matthews underscores the important war-catalyzing role played by extraordinary public women, who proved that neither side of the Mason-Dixon line was as patriarchal as is thought. David Blight reveals an African-American world that "knew what time
it was," and welcomed war. And Gabor Boritt examines the struggle's central figure, Lincoln himself, illuminating in the years leading up to the war a blindness on the future president's part, an unwillingness to confront the looming calamity that was about to smash the nation asunder.
William E. Gienapp notes perhaps the most unsettling fact about the Civil War, that democratic institutions could not resolve the slavery issue without resorting to violence on an epic scale. With gripping detail, Why the Civil War Came takes readers back to a country fraught with bitterness,
confusion, and hatred--a country ripe for a war of unprecedented bloodshed--to show why democracy failed, and violence reigned.
253 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Gabor S. Boritt
27 books9 followersGabor S. Boritt was the Robert Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 12, 2011
Essays are of uneven quality. The ones by Summers, Freehling, and Royster were the best in the book.
August 30, 2022
This little book sat on my shelf for years. For so long in fact, I have no memory of when I bought it. Most likely on the bargain book shelf of Barnes and Noble. I have several such books of such uncertain acquisition. In deference to an adage once said to me by a former director, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” I allow those books to stay unread until I feel the compulsion to read them.
Had I read this book anywhere before six years ago, I may have given it fewer than five stars. But to read this book published in the 1990’s now was to be made aware that the dynamics present in the American regional psyches of the antebellum period are still present within the psyches of their descendants.
To the very last sobering page, Americans would do well to allow these essayists to teach them.
Had I read this book anywhere before six years ago, I may have given it fewer than five stars. But to read this book published in the 1990’s now was to be made aware that the dynamics present in the American regional psyches of the antebellum period are still present within the psyches of their descendants.
To the very last sobering page, Americans would do well to allow these essayists to teach them.
August 3, 2022
Some essays are stronger than others. Several suffer from the syndrome of the author writing for an academic audience—meaning the content was somewhat diluted by needlessly ostentatious prose. The essay about an un-unified South and how the American slave system compared to other contemporary slave countries was particularly illuminating.
January 2, 2021
It was okay, really a collection of essays looking at different causes, not a unified book by one author. Very informative, but not all of the scholars were as readable as others. The shift in styles was a little jolting, but I still learned.
November 27, 2018
Kinda boring but If you are interested in the political aspect of the civil war and the effect it had on the people emotional and how many saw the war as pointless.
September 6, 2024
best essays
Summers
Freehling
Royster
April 21, 2015
Really good overview of why the war came about and gives context. Definitely brought up issues that I hadn't considered before.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews