The American Civil War was without doubt the defining event in the history of the United States. This up-to-date analyisis of a critical period goes beyond the origins, course and consequences of the Civil War to bring in other important themes such as racial conflict, gender relations, religion, the popular memory and state formation.
Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Maps. Note on the Text. Prologue. Independence Day, 1854. 1. A Robber and a Jailer: The Antebellum Republic 2. Bitter Fruit of an Unjust War: The Politics of Slavery Expansion, 1848-52 3. Political Crises of the 1850s 4. The Disunited States: Secession and Civil War 5. Our Deliverance is Nigh: The Quest for Southern Independence 6. Last Full Measure of Devotion: The Union in Wartime 7. War by Any Other Name: The Struggle over Reconstruction, 1865-76 8. Land of Gold: The Far West in the Mid-Nineteenth Century 9. Reform, Reaction and Reunion at the Dawn of the Guilded Age. Conclusion. The Proving Time: The United States in the Era of the Civil War. Select Bibliography. Index.
