Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

by James M. McPherson
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

by James M. McPherson

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Overview

Filled with fresh interpretations and information, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War. James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War--the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry--and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory. The book's title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict: the South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776, while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually, the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war--slavery--and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom," as Lincoln called it, constitutes the proudest legacy of America's bloodiest conflict. This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780199743902
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 12/11/2003
Series: Oxford History of the United States Series
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Sales rank: 69,848
Lexile: 1320L (what's this?)
File size: 12 MB
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About the Author

James M. McPherson is Edwards Professor of American History at Princeton University. His books include The Struggle for Equality, Marching Toward Freedom, and Ordeal by Fire.

Hometown:

Princeton, New Jersey

Date of Birth:

October 11, 1936

Place of Birth:

Valley City, North Dakota

Education:

B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN) 1958; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1963

Table of Contents

Editor's Introduction Prologue: From the Halls of Montezuma 1. The United States at Midcentury 2. Mexico Will Poison 3. An Empire for Slavery 4. Slavery, Rum, and Romanism 5. The Crime Against Kansas 6. Mudsills and Greasy Mechanics for A. Lincoln 7. The Revolution o f1860 8. The Counterrevolution 9. Facing Both Ways: The Upper South's Dilemma 10. Amateurs Go to War 11. Farewell to the Ninety Days' War 12. Blockade and Beachhead: The Salt-Water War, 1861-1862 13. The River War in 1862 14. The Sinews of War 15. Billy Yank's Chickahominy Blues 16. We Must Free the Slaves or Be Ourselves Subdued 17. Carry Me Back to Old Virginny 18. John Bull's Virginia Rell 19. Three Rivers in Winter, 1862-1863 20. Fire in the Rear 21. Long Remember: The Summer of '63 22. Johnny Reb's Chattanooga Blues 23. When This Cruel War is Over 24. If It Takes All Summer 25. After Four Years of Failure 26. We Are Going to be Wiped off the Earth 27. South Carolina Must Be Destroyed 28. We Are All Americans Epilogue: To the Shoals of VIctory Afterward Abbreviated Titles Bibliographic Note Index
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