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Bezig met laden... Lincoln and his party in the secession crisis (editie 1995)door David Morris Potter
Informatie over het werkLincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis door David M. Potter
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Originally published in 1942, this perceptive and impartial analysis of one of the most baffling periods in American history?the months between the election of Lincoln and the fall of Fort Sumter?was a bold declaration of intellectual independence. David M. Potter revolted against the prevailing southern argument that Lincoln deliberately provoked the South into war to bring a violent end to slavery, arguing instead that the new president followed the least aggressive course available to him in dealing with the secession crisis. Based on a painstaking examination of the writings and statements of both the northern principal players in the crisis and other, lesser-known Republicans who revealed the sentiment of the party?s rank and file, this groundbreaking study details the Republicans? attitudes to the threat of secession, their reaction to the actual withdrawal of the southern states, and their faith that the Union could be restored without violence. Daniel W. Crofts provides a new Introduction, setting Potter?s account in the context of contemporary literature. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)973.7092History and Geography North America United States Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 Civil WarLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Potter is also a disciplined historian and always writes from the perspectives of the time he is writing about not from what we know now. Many historians cannot resist narrating from the present making all that has happened seem inevitable. This deprives the reader of learning what it was like to go through the events when the future was still unknown.
In this book Potter refutes the thesis of many Southern writers who argue that Lincoln tricked the South into starting the Civil War. The Lincoln portrayed here is almost naive in his belief of strong Unionist sentiment in the South. Many of his actions were taken in an attempt to bring about a peaceful reunion based upon this belief. This conclusion seems to be where the evidence led not the author seeking to come up with a controversial point of view to make a name for himself. I have never seen the idea of peaceful reunion emphasized as it is here. Lincoln's strategy was to keep the border states, including Virginia, from seceding. Then the seven gulf states would return. There was actually a period in February when five states voted against secession. Other writers seem to accept the secession and war as inevitable and do not explore the alternatives seen by the leadership at the time.
Seward was even more placating to the South and his attempt to run the administration began with the policy on Fort Sumter. As portrayed here up until early April of 1861 there was strong sentiment to evacuate the fort. Seward even made some commitments that the fort would be evacuated. It is these types of actions that are used to argue that the Northern leadership was maneuvering the South into starting the war. The Northern leadership actually allowed itself to be led astray by unrealistic optimism that the South would return without war. The actual beginning of the war is beyond the scope of the book.
This book was written in 1942 but the conclusions of the author are still new ideas in the writing about secession. I enjoyed the book and think that anyone studying this period should get the benefit of the author's perspective. ( )