Gotham at War is an accessible, entertaining account of America's biggest
and most powerful urban center during the Civil War. New York City mobilized an
enthusiastic but poorly trained military force during the first month of the war
that helped protect Washington, D.C., from Confederate capture. Its strong
financial support for the national government may well have saved the Union. New
York served as a center for manpower, military supplies, and shipbuilding. And
medically, New York became a center for efforts to provide for sick and wounded
soldiers.
Yet, despite being a major Northern city, New York also had strong
sympathy for the South. Parts of the city were strongly racist,
hostile to the abolition of slavery and to any real freedom for black
Americans. The hostility of many New Yorkers to the military draft
culminated in one of the greatest of all urban upheavals, the draft
riots of July 1863.
Edward K. Spann brings his experience as an urban historian to
provide insights on both the varied ways in which the war affected
the city and the ways in which the city's people and industry
influenced the divided nation. This is the first book to assess the
city's contributions to the Civil War.
Gotham at War examines the different sides of the city as some fought
to sustain the Union while others opposed the war effort and sided
with the South. This unique book will entertain all readers
interested in the Civil War and New York City.
About the
Author
Edward K. Spann
is professor emeritus of history at Indiana State University. He is a specialist
in nineteenth-century history and urban history. Spann has authored a number of
books, including The New Metropolis: New York City 1840-1857 and Ideals and
Politics: New York Intellectuals and Liberal Democracy, which was nominated for
a Pulitzer Prize.
