New Perspectives on the Union War - Gary W. Gallagher and Elizabeth R. Varon, Editors - REVIEW

     New Perspectives on the Union War explores, at a wide array of points along the political spectrum, the many shapes patriotic sentiment took in the loyal states during the Civil War. The essays provide new insights into well-known figures such as Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, political philosopher Francis Lieber, African American author/ entrepreneur Elizabeth Keckley, abolitionist Abby Kelly Foster, New York governor Horatio Seymour, and Attorney General Edward Bates. They also offer the perspectives of common soldiers, of the partisan press, of the clergy, and of social reformers.

     Edited by Gary Gallagher and Elizabeth Varon, two of the most prominent nineteenth­century American historians in the nation, New Perspectives on the Union War provides a more nuanced understanding of what "Union" meant in the Civil War North by exploring how various groups of northerners conceived of the term. The essays in this volume demonstrate that while there was a broad consensus that the war was fought, or should be fought, for the cause of Union, there was bitter disagreement over how to define that cause-debate not only between political camps but also within them. The chapters touch on economics, politics, culture, military affairs, ethnicity, and questions relating to just war.

     Eight prominent and rising scholars come together to grapple with the seismic shifts in the study of the North's decision to wage Civil War in the wake of Gary Gallagher's The Union War (Harvard University Press 2012).  Essays explore the Northern motivation for Civil War through numerous perspectives: Liberal and conservative, abolitionist and pro-slavery, from perspectives defined by religion, labor, finance, and the eventual goal of reunification and Reconstruction.  Reveals in case studies how Northern arguments in favor of the Civil War influenced the terms of Reconstruction through debates about which policies and what sort of political tone would bring reunion on the loyal states' terms

Contributors: Michael T. Caires, Frank Cirillo, D.H. Dilbeck, Jack Furniss, Jesse George­Nichol, William B. Kurtz, Peter C. Luebke, and Tamika Nunley.

Gary W. Gallagher is the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War and Director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including The Union War.

Elizabeth R. Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History and Associate Director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia. She is the author of numerous books, including Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War.

New Perspectives on the Union War
Gary W. Gallagher and Elizabeth R. Varon, Editors
ISBN: 978-082-3284-535
Paperback, 272 pages