Table of Contents

Note: Each chapter concludes with Further Reading.
1. PERSPECTIVES ON THE SECTIONAL CONFLICT.
Essays.
James M. McPherson, The Second American Revolution," Hayes Historical Journal, Spring 1992. Drew Gilpin Faust, "We Should Grow Too Fond of It: Why We Love the Civil War," Civil War History, December 2004, pp.368-83. LeeAnn Whites, "The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender," in Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber, eds., Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War (Oxford University Press,1992), pp.3-21. Edward L. Ayers, "The First Occupation," The New York Times Magazine, May 29, 2005 (entire article).
2. THE SLAVE SOUTH.
Documents.
1. Frederick Law Olmsted Observes Southern Lassitude, 1854. 2. Hinton Rowan Helper Exposes Southern Backwardness, 1857. 3. James Henry Hammond Claims Southern Cultural Superiority, 1845. 4. George Fitzhugh Praises Southern Society, 1854. 5. J.D.B. DeBow Explains Why Nonslaveholders Should Support Slavery, 1860. 6. An Abolitionist Journal Condemns Slavery and the Slave Trade, September 1837. 7. N.L. Rice, a Proslavery Minister, Blames Abolitionists for the Slave Trade, October 1845.
Essays.
James M. McPherson, "Antebellum Southern Exceptionalism: A New Look at an Old Question," Civil War History, September 1983, pp.230-44. Steven Deyle, The Domestic Slave Trade as Slavery's Lifeblood.
3. THE IMPENDING CRISIS.
Documents.
1. The Independent Democrats Protest the Kansas-Nebraska Act, January 1854. 2. Stephen Douglas of Illinois Explains the Objectives of His Bill, February 1854. 3. Senator Robert Toombs of Georgia Insists on Congress's Responsibility to Protect Slavery in the Territories, January 1856. 4. Senator William Henry Seward of New York Warns of an Irrepressible Conflict, October 1858. 5. Senator Albert G. Brown of Mississippi Denounces the Federal Government for Failing to Protect the South, December 1859.
Essays.
William E. Gienapp, "The Republican Party and the Slave Power," in Robert H. Abzug and Stephen E. Maizlish, eds., New Perspectives on Race and Slavery in America. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1986) pp. 51-75. Don E. Fehrenbacher, "Kansas, Republicanism, and the Crisis of the Union," in Fehrenbacher, The South and Three Sectional Crises (Louisiana State University Press, 1980), pp. 45-65.
4. SECTIONALISM AND SECESSION.
Documents.
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson Condemns the South for the Assault on Charles Sumner, February 1857. 2. Abraham Lincoln Addresses the Issue of Sectionalism, February 1860. 3. South Carolina Declares and Justifies Its Secession, December 1860. 4. Mississippi's Secession Commissioner Urges Georgia to Secede, December 1860. 5. Confederate Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens Identifies "The Cornerstone of the Confederacy," March 1861.
Essays.
Susan-Mary Grant, "When Is a Nation Not a Nation?: The Crisis of American Nationality," in Grant, North Over South: Northern Nationalism and American Identity in the Antebellum Era (University Press of Kansas, 2000), pp.130-52. Manisha Sinha, "Revolution or Counterrevolution?: The Political Ideology of Secession in Antebellum South Carolina," Civil War History, September 2000, pp.205-26.
5. GENERALS AND CAMPAIGNS: HOW THEY FOUGHT.
Documents.
1. George B. McClelland Gives President Lincoln a Lesson in Grand Strategy, July 1862. 2. General Robert E. Lee Takes the Offensive, September 1862. 3. General E. Porter Alexander, C.S.A., Assesses Lea and McClellan at Antietam, September 1862. 4. General Grant Transmits His Plan for the Overland Campaign, April 1864. 5. Grant Recalls His Thoughts on the Eve of the Overland Campaign, 1886. 6. General William T. Sherman Explains How the War Has Changed, September 1864. 7. General Grant Reports His Assignment Accomplished, July 1865.
Essays.
Gary W. Gallagher, "A Civil War Watershed: The 1862 Richmond Campaign in Perspective," in Gary Gallagher, ed., The Richmond Campaign of 1862: The Peninsula and the Seven Days (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000) pp. 2-23. Mark Grimsley, "The Significance of the Overland Campaign, April-May 1864," in Grimsley, And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 (University of Nebraska Press, 2002), xiii-xvii, 222-39 + map on p.5.
6. SOLDIERS AND COMBAT: WHY THEY FOUGHT.
Documents.
1. John H. Cochran, C.S.A., Argues that Secession Will Protect Slave-holders, March 1861. 2. Charles Harvey Brewster, U.S.A., Rejects Accommodation with Slave-holders, March 1862. 3. Charles Willis, U.S.A., Comments on Runaway Slaves, April 1862. 4. Eugene Blackford, C.S.A., Describes His First Experience of Combat, July 1861. 5. Wilbur Fisk, U.S.A., Discusses Morale among the Soldiers, April 1863. 6. Tally Simpson, C.S.A., Reports on the Aftermath of Gettysburg, July 1863.
Essays.
Aaron Sheehan-Dean, "Everyman's War: Confederate Enlistment in Civil War Virginia," Civil War History, March 2004, pp.5-26. Chandra Miller, "A 'Vexed Question': White Union Soldiers on Slavery and Race," in Aaron Sheehan-Dean, ed., The View from the Ground: Experiences of Civil War Soldiers (University Press of Kentucky, 2007), pp.31-66. Reid Mitchell, "From Volunteer to Soldier: The Psychology of Service," in Mitchell, Civil War Soldiers (Viking Penguin, 1988), pp.64-82.
7. THE NORTHERN HOME FRONT.
Documents.
1. The Detroit Soldiers' Aid Society President Calls on Women to Assist the War Effort, November 1861. 2. Mary Livermore Recounts How She Organized the 1864 Northwestern Sanitary Fair, 1889. 3. Cincinnati Sewing Women Protest Their Wartime Wages, February 1865. 4. Henry W. Bellows Explains the Work and Goals of the Sanitary Commission, January 1864. 5. President Lincoln Addresses the Philadelphia Central Fair, June 1864. 6. Secretary of the Treasury Chase Appeals to the Public for Financial Support, July 1861. 7. The New York Tribune Supports Expansion of the Government Bond Drive, March 1865.
Essays.
Nina Silber, "The Problem of Women's Patriotism, North and South," in Nina Silber, Gender and the Sectional Conflict (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2009) pp. 37-68. Melinda Lawson, "Let the Nation Be Your Bank: Jay Cooke and the War Bond Drives," in Lawson, Patriot Fires: Forging a New American Nationalism in the Civil War North (University Press of Kansas, 2002), pp. 40-64.
8. THE SOUTHERN HOME FRONT.
Documents.
1. Governor Joseph E. Brown of Georgia Denounces Confederate Policy, September 1862. 2. Eliza Adams Seeks Assistance from the Confederate Government, 1862. 3. Plain Folk Protest the Burden of the War, February 1863. 4.The North Carolina Legislature Protests the Confederate Debt and Martial Law, May 1864. 5. Catherine Edmonston of North Carolina Discusses Matters Public and Domestic, January 1865. 6. Cornelia Peake McDonald of Virginia Comments on Class and Conscription, March 1864. 7. Elizabeth Patterson of Virginia Tries to Reconcile Her Loyalty and Her "Misfortune," March 1865.
Essays.
Drew Gilpin Faust, "Patriotism, Sacrifice and Self-Interest," in Faust, Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War (University of North Carolina Press, 1996), same extract as in 2nd. Edition. Amy M. Taylor, "Of Necessity and Public Benefit: Southern Families and Their Appeals for Protection," in Catherine Clinton, ed., Southern Families at War: Loyalty and Conflict in the Civil War South (Oxford University Press, 2000), pp.77-93. Paul Escott, "Policy-making Produces Innovation and Controversy," in Escott, Military Necessity: Civil-Military Relations in the Confederacy (Praeger Security International, 2006), pp. 15-37.
9. ENDING SLAVERY.
Documents.
1. General Benjamin F. Butler Discovers the "Contrabands," July 1861. 2. The Freedmen's Inquiry Commission Considers Policy toward the Former Slaves, June 1863. 3. President Lincoln Defends Emancipation ("The Conkling Letter"), August 1863. 4. The U.S. Adjutant General Describes the Condition of Fleeing Slaves, August 1863. 5. Joseph Miller, U.S.A., Protests the Mistreatment of His Family by the U.S. Army, November 1864. 6. James H. Payne, U.S.A., Complains of Racial Discrimination on the Battlefield, August 1864. 7. Frederick Douglass States the Freedmen's Demands, April 1865. 8. Gertrude Thomas Is Upset that Her Slaves Are Leaving, May 1865.
Essays.
Allen C. Guelzo, "Defending Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln and the Conkling Letter, 1863," Civil War History, December 2002, pp.313-37. Joseph T. Glatthaar, "Black Glory: The African-American Role in Union Victory," in Gabor S. Boritt, ed., Why the Confederacy Lost (Oxford University Press, 1992), pp.135-62.
10. NORTHERN REPUBLICANS AND RECONSTRUCTION POLICY.
Documents.
1. Richard H. Dana, Jr., Presents His "Grasp of War" Theory, June 1865. 2. Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois Explains His Civil Rights Bill, January and April 1866. 3. Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania States His Terms, January 1867. 4. Representative George W. Julian of Indiana Defines the Scope of Reconstruction, January 1867. 5. Senator John Sherman of Ohio Urges Caution and Moderation Towards the South, February 1867. 6. Congress's Terms for Readmission and Reconstruction, June 1866 and March 1867. 7. Albion Tourgee, a North Carolina Republican, Later Condemns Congress's Reconstruction Policy, 1879.
Essays.
Eric Foner, "The Radical Republicans," in Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (HarperCollins, 1988), pp.228-39. Michael Les Benedict, "Preserving the Constitution: The Conservative Basis of Radical Reconstruction," Journal of American History 61 (June 1974), pp.65-90.
11. LIFE AND LABOR IN THE SOUTH AFTER EMANCIPATION.
Documents.
1. Martie Curtis Remembers Her Struggle After Emanciptaion (undated). 2. A Georgia Planter Requests that Freedwomen Be Required to Work. 3. Henry Adams Reports on Women and Fieldwork, 1867. 4. A Freedmen's Bureau Agent Discusses Labor Relations, November 1867. 5. Richard H. Cain of South Carolina Stresses the Importance of Land, February 1868. 6. Edward King Describes the Postwar Plantation System in the Natchez District, 1875.
Essays.
Leslie A. Schwalm, "'Sweet Dreams of Freedom': Freedwomen's Reconstruction of Life and Labor in Lowcountry South Carolina," Journal of Women's History, Spring 1997, pp.9-30. Michael W. Fitzgerald, The Freedmen's Bureau and Social Control in Alabama.
12. RECONSTRUCTING SOUTHERN POLITICS.
Documents.
1. The State Colored Convention Addresses the People of Alabama, May 1867. 2. Former Governor James L. Orr Defends South Carolina's Republican Government, June 1871. 3. Representative Robert B. Elliott of South Carolina Demands Federal Civil Rights, January 1874. 4. Representative Alexander White of Alabama Defends "Carpetbaggers," February 1875. 5. Albert T. Morgan of Mississippi Recalls His Achievements as Sherriff, 1884.
Essays.
Steven Hahn, "A Society Turned Upside Down," in Hahn, A Nation Under Our Feet (Harvard University Press, 2003), pp.237-59. Rebecca J. Scott, "Building Citizenship in Louisiana, 1862-1873," in Scott, Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery (Harvard University Press, 2005), pp.36-60.
13. ENDING RECONSTRUCTION.
Documents.
1. Senator Carl Schurz of Missouri Condemns Reconstruction, January 1871. 2. James Shepherd Pike Offers Liberal Republican View of Reconstruction in South Carolina, 1873. 3. Representative L.Q.C. Lamar of Mississippi Assails Reconstruction, June 1874
4. Governor William P. Kellogg of Louisiana Demands Punishment for the Coushatta Assassins, September 1874. 5. Governor Adelbert Ames Deplores the Violence in Mississippi, September 1875. 6. Governor Daniel H. Chamberlain of South Carolina Defends Conciliation and Reform, January 1876. 7. President Grant Disclaims Responsibility for Reconstruction in South Carolina, July 1876.
Essays.
Michael Perman, "Counter Reconstruction: The Role of Violence in Southern Redemption," in Eric Anderson and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., eds., The Facts of Reconstruction: Essays in Honor of John Hope Franklin (Louisiana State University Press, 1992), pp.121-40. Heather Cox Richardson, "Black Workers and the South Carolina Government, 1871-75," in Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901 (Harvard University Press, 2001).
14. THE CIVIL WAR IN HISTORICAL MEMORY.
Documents.
1. Jubal Early Defends the Legacy of the Confederacy, August 1873. 2. Roger A. Pryor Elevates Soldiers' Heroism Over Slaves' Emancipation, May 1877. 3. Frederick Douglass Urges Americans to Remember the War's True Meaning, May 1878. 4. William T. Sherman Insists There Was "Right" and "Wrong" in the War, May 1878. 5. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Calls for Reconciliation, May 1884. 6. George W. Williams Proposes a Monument Honoring Black Soldiers' valor, 1888. 7. Walt Whitman Speculates that "The Real War Will Never Get in the Books," 1882-83.
Essays.
David W. Blight, "Decoration Days: The Origins of Memorial Day in North and South," in Alice Fahs and Joan Waugh, eds,, The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture (University of North Carolina Press, 2004), pp.94-123. W. Fitzhugh Brundage, "Race, Memory, and Masculinity: Black Veterans Recall the Civil War," in Joan E. Cashin, ed., The War Was You and Me: Civilians and the American Civil War (Princeton University Press, 2002), pp.136-52."

About the Author

Michael Perman is Professor of History and Research Professor in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his B.A. from Oxford University and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where his dissertation adviser was the late John Hope Franklin. He has published three books on the late nineteenth century South: REUNION WITHOUT COMPROMISE: THE SOUTH AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1865-1868 (1973); THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION: SOUTHERN POLITICS, 1869-1879 (1984), which won three book prizes; and STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY: DISFRANCHISEMENT IN THE SOUTH, 1888-1908 (2001). He has also written EMANCIPATION AND RECONSTRUCTION (2003) and, more recently, PURSUIT OF UNITY: A POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH (2010). Perman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979-80 and was appointed the John Adams Distinguished Professor of American History at Utrecht University in the Netherlands in 2002-2003. In 2007, he gave the 69th Series of the Fleming Lectures in Southern History, soon to be published by Louisiana State University Press. Amy Murrell Taylor is Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her B.A. from Duke University (1993) and her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia (2001), where she worked with the Virginia Center for Digital History and served as a project manager for the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW: TWO COMMUNITIES IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, a digital archive. Taylor has written THE DIVIDED FAMILY IN CIVIL WAR AMERICA (2005), a social and cultural study that explores how families coped with the war�s intrusion into their private lives. She has also contributed chapters to Joan Cashin, ed., THE WAR WAS YOU AND ME (2002) and Catherine Clinton, ed., SOUTHERN FAMILIES AT WAR (2000). Taylor served as a production and research assistant for the PBS series, THE RISE AND FALL OF JIM CROW. The American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities have supported her research. She is now studying the social history of emancipation, focusing on slave runaways and refugee camps. In 2007, she won an excellence-in-teaching award at her university.