Freedom National: The destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865

The consensus view of the Civil War-that it was first and foremost a war to restore the Union, and an antislavery war only later when it became necessary for Union victory-dies here. James Oakes's groundbreaking history shows how deftly Lincoln and congressional Republicans pursued antislavery throughout the war, pragmatic in policy but steadfast on principle.

In the disloyal South the federal government quickly began freeing slaves, immediately and without slaveholder compensation, as they...