Lincoln and the Decision for War

by McClintock, Russell

• ISBN13: 9780807871546
• ISBN10: 0807871540
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-15
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

When Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 prompted several Southern states to secede, the North was sharply divided over how to respond. In this groundbreaking and highly praised book, McClintock follows the decision-making process from bitter partisan rancor to consensus. From small towns to big cities and from state capitals to Washington, D.C., McClintock highlights individuals both powerful and obscure to demonstrate the ways ordinary citizens, party activists, state officials, and national leaders interacted to influence the Northern response to what was essentially a political crisis. He argues that although Northerners' reactions to Southern secession were understood and expressed through partisan newspapers and officials, the decision fell into the hands of an ever-smaller group of people until finally it was Lincoln alone who would choose whether the future of the American republic was to be determined through peace or by sword.

Author Biography

Russell McClintock earned his Ph.D. in U.S. history from Clark University and now teaches at St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
On the Brink of the Precipice: The Election of 1860	p. 14
I Would Not Endanger the Perpetuity of This Union: November	p. 30
Proportions of Which I Had but a Faint Conception: Early December	p. 60
The Issues of the Late Campaign Are Obsolete: Late December	p. 85
We Know Not What a Day or Two or an Hour May Bring Forth: December-January	p. 105
One's Opinions Change Fast in Revolutionary Times: January-February	p. 133
The Storm Is Weathered: January-February, Revisited	p. 165
A Calm Pervades the Political World: March	p. 187
Any Decision Would Be Preferable to This Uncertainty: March-April	p. 226
Everbody Now Is for the Union: April-May	p. 254
Conclusion: Shall It Be Peace, or a Sword?	p. 275
Notes	p. 281
Bibliography	p. 341
Index	p. 371
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