Abraham Lincoln and The Second American Revolution by James M. McPherson
This book is a collection of seven essays on the Civil War. Originally,
these essays were lecture notes. They are well written and thoughtful. The
common theme is that the Civil War was a second revolution because it resulted
in revolutionary transformations of the country and was accompanied by a
counter-revolution a couple decades after Appomattox. Each essay covers a
single premise and can be read separately.
Slavery divided the nation in 1787 and severed the nation in
1860. Many have said that the Civil War settled the key issue kicked down the
road by the Constitutional Convention. Did the Civil War finish the Founders’
work or was it in and of itself revolutionary? Read Abraham Lincoln and The
Second American Revolution and decide for yourself.
Ending slavery in the United States was horrendously
difficult. It took a four year war with about 620,000 deaths. The politics were
byzantine and the warfare brutal. Reunification was even more ferocious, and absent
Lincoln, the backsliding undid much of the accomplishment.
In the end, I found this to be a sad book.
