Battle Cry Of Freedom: The Civil War Era

James McPherson was born on October 11th 1936, he is an American Civil War historian. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book. McPherson was the president of the American Historical Association in 2003, and is a member of the editorial board of Encyclopedia Britannica. In his early career McPherson wanted to leave a legacy as being known for the historian who focusses on more than one point. Through skillful narrative in a broad-ranging oeuvre of essays and books, McPherson has succeeded in telling both stories, combining social, political, and military history to reach a broad scholarly and popular audience, emphasizing all the while that the Civil War constituted a “second American Revolution.” Examining thousands of letters and diaries written by soldiers to gather a better insight and understanding, McPherson argued that deep political and ideological convictions about liberty, slavery, religion, and nation were the fundamental reasons that men on both sides enlisted and fought. McPherson’s views on the Civil War are broad in comparison to many other writers, he believes there are multiple causes to the war but that the underlying cause was slavery and that Southern states used the saying “States’ Rights” to justify their actions of slavery and secession. It became a psychological necessity for the South to deny that the war was about slavery that they were fighting for the preservation, defense and

James M. McPherson sets out to discover what motivated the Confederate and Union soldiers to continue fighting in the Civil War in his book What They Fought For. McPherson analyses nearly a thousand letters, journals, and diary of Union and Confederate soldiers to determine what urged them to fight is this defining American Conflict. McPherson reads and groups together the common thoughts of the everyday soldier, from their letters and journals that none of which had been subjected to any sort of censorship, in that time period. He then generalizes the motivations that they used to fight for their country. Whether it be for slavery or for the Union, the author views both sides of the fighting to analysis their ideological issues, how deep their belief coursed through their veins to continue fighting, and how the soldiers held their convictions close to heart in the time of war.

Ira Berlin (author of many thousands gone) starts this book off (in the prologue) by recalling a dispute some years ago over “who freed the slaves?” in the Civil War South. He was interviewed on Washington's public radio station about the meaning of “The Emancipation Proclamation”. He also addressed other familiar themes of the great document origin’s nature of the Civil War changing, the growing Black labor and the union's army’s dependence on it, the Evermore intensifying opposition to slavery in the North, and the interaction of military necessity an abolitionist idealism. He rehearsed the long established debate over the role of Abraham Lincoln, the radicals in Congress, abolitionists in the North, the Union army in the field, and slaves on the slaves on the plantations of the South in the destruction of slavery and in the authorship of legal freedom. During this debate he restated his position that “slaves played a critical role in securing their own freedom”.

McPherson starts out the book with The Pendulum of War 1861-1862. McPherson in this chapter of the book mainly talks about the uprisings and downfalls of General B. McClellan who was appointed by Abraham Lincoln to be the head of the Army of the Potomac. McPherson explains what the American Civil Wars ultimate goal was and what Abraham Lincoln wished to achieve was the unity of all the states armies and invasion of the Confederacy in which he had hopes of destroying their government. The union arms won some victories and also lost some as well but the first most remembered to be the embarrassing defeat McPherson names is along the banks of Bull Run in July 1861. He describes the war and what happened in it and concludes that after the release of Mason and Slidell the war was averted and later struck a financial panic in

Although James McPherson presents Lincoln as having numerous qualities that defined him as a brilliant leader, he wastes no time in revealing what he believes to be Lincoln’s greatest strength. In his Introduction, McPherson states regarding Lincoln’s political leadership: “In a civil war whose origins lay in a political conflict over the future of slavery and a political decision by certain states to secede, policy could never be separated from national strategy…. And neither policy nor national strategy could be separated from military strategy” (McPherson, p.6). Lincoln could not approach the war from a purely martial standpoint—instead, he needed to focus on the issues that caused it. For the catalyst of the war was also the tool for its solution; a war started by differing ideologies could only be resolved through the military application of ideology. This non-objective approach to the waging of the war almost resembles the inspired approach McPherson brings to his examination of Lincoln himself.

The author tries to achieve the stated purpose in his book by diligently examining and studying all the letters and diaries in order to recreate and give an accurate and detailed description of the life and times of the people who lived during the civil war. No historical account can be accurate without the author's complete dedication to his work and the subject matter. McPherson is passionate about this subject and ensures that no detail is left out, no stone unturned, in his quest to give an accurate account of the Civil War. If he did not do this, he would not be doing justice to the people who lived through those difficult and trying times. He would be committing historical blasphemy.

James M. McPherson, author of For Cause and Comrades, uses more than 25,000 unaltered letters and closely 250 private journals from Civil War soldiers—both Union and Confederate—in his attempt to explain what possessed these men to endure the roaring, gruesome chaos of war. What better way to express the motivation behind fighting than words straight from the pens of the men who were physically there and experienced the Civil War to its fullest? I personally feel as though McPherson succeeded in his explanation of the different driving forces that kept each man going during these difficult years of battle. The Wall Street Journal describes McPherson’s work as “an extraordinary book, full of fascinating details and moving self-portraits.”

James McPherson the author of What They Fought For 1861-1865, thesis states that the soldiers from both the North and South fought for a large extent for ideology, and not exclusively as brothers in war with other soldiers, for principles of strength or courage, and for the nations of honor and duty. McPherson uses hundreds of letters and diaries from soldiers from both the Union and Confederate troops to show their experience. He tries to focus on a variety of attitudes and motives from the volunteer soldiers. These young men coped with fear, stress, exhaustion, pain, and death everyday while out there fighting. “A final theme that will receive attention is ideology,” (McPherson 1) this is what the soldiers supposed they were fighting for during the Civil War.

As slavery became more widely spread, the next few chapters highlight key events and movements that lead to major sectionalism in America. Examples of these events are, the Second Great Awakening, Passing of Personal Liberty Laws, Territorial Expansion, Transportation Revolution, and the Mexican War. These were all events mentioned in chapters one through six. However, in chapters seven and eight the author focuses on the Revolution of 1860 and the Counterrevolution of 1861 which dealt with the election, this tells how the Constitutional Union Party came into play in order to nominate John Bell. In chapters nine through fifteen, the book discusses the ninety-day war, along with multiple battles that occurred throughout this time.

In the beginning of the novel, McPherson informs the reader that it was not clear who would win the war. Both side had strengths and weaknesses that set the scene of the war. Before Antietam only the South thought the war was about slavery .The North simply was fighting to “preserve the Union”, not to abolish slavery. The war was described as, “A war to destroy slavery and to reshape the South in the Northern free-soil image” (McPherson 14-15). Since the north did not have slavery, the south wanted to keep it. The south was close to being recognized by England and France, “The South’s principal foreign-policy goals were European intervention to break the blockade and diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy as a nation” (McPherson 35). Southerners believed in cotton to compile British and French Intervention. The textile industry was the leading sector in the British and

Guts & Glory the American Civil War by Ben Thomas .The Union army of the North fights for slave’s freedom. It starts when Abraham Lincoln wins the presidential election this starts the civil war. The first battle of Bull Run was the first battle of the civil war which ends in a Confederate victory .Gradually the union was losing the war in till. The battle of Gettysburg anarchy which became a union victory that turns the tides of the war. Soon after the battle of Sailor’s Creek started and became a union victory that made the Confederates surrender and the war was over. In conclusion the Union won the war and the slaves were

The Civil War was a time of major upheaval within America. Major issues such as slavery divided the states and threw the nation in all different directions. As Abraham Lincoln was elected into the presidency in 1860, South Carolina along with 10 other southern states began seceding from the union. Their reasoning for secession included those of protecting the institution of slavery and state’s rights. These affairs, then led to the commencement of the Civil War, and soldiers of the Union and Confederate regions began enlisting. Union and Confederates enlisted into the war for similar sounding motives, however a deeper insight is needed to understand the basis of the war and that each side had contradicting feelings and emotions behind every motive.

Why is the Civil War a war of freedom? The Northerners wanted the South to give up slavery and wanted to make America whole and united again. The Southerners wanted the North to give them states rights and wanted to live the way they wanted. The North basically didn't do what the south wanted and so they started to fight. The South didn't get what they wanted so the Southerners got mad and declared war against the north.

The first part of the Civil War I would name it The Uproar of War. I would name it this because people in both the North and South were eager to enlist. The North and South were both passionate about the cause. They were also hopeful that this war would be a quick war that would end this long enduring debate.

The ethical differences between the North and the South in early America would become the foundation that would eventually lead to the American Civil War; a bloody battle that held great losses for both sides. The two sides fought the Civil War over the growing tension revolving around issues such as expansion and slavery. The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm, by Stephen B. Oates is a read that tells the story of the coming of the American Civil War through the viewpoints, of 13 principal players, including Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass.