The American Civil War was the first ever to be fought with railroads moving troops and the telegraph connecting civilian leadership to commanders in the field. New developments arose at a moment’s notice. As a result, the young nation’s political structure and culture often struggled to keep up. When war began, Congress was not even in session.
The American Civil War was the first ever to be fought with railroads moving troops and the telegraph connecting civilian leadership to commanders in the field. New developments arose at a moment’s notice. As a result, the young nation’s political structure and culture often struggled to keep up. When war began, Congress was not even in session. By the time it met, the government had mobilized over 100,000 soldiers, battles had been fought, casualties had been taken, some civilians had violently opposed the war effort, and emancipation was underway.
This set the stage for Congress to play catch-up for much of the conflict. The result was an ongoing race to pass new laws and set policies. Throughout it all, Congress had to answer to a fractured and demanding public.
In Congress and the People’s Contest, Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon have assembled some of the nation’s finest scholars of American history and law to tease apart the fraught interactions between Congress and the American people as they navigated a cataclysmic and unprecedented war. Displaying a variety and range of focus that will make the book a classroom must, the essays here show how these interactions took place—sometimes successfully, and sometimes less so.
Contributors: L. Diane Barnes, Fergus M. Bordewich, Jenny Bourne, Jonathan Earle, Lesley J. Gordon, Mischa Honeck, Chandra Manning, Nikki M. Taylor, and Eric Walther.
Daugiau informacijos
The American Civil War was the first military conflict in history to be fought with railroads moving troops and the telegraph connecting civilian leadership to commanders in the field. New developments arose at a moments notice. As a result, the young nations political structure and culture often struggled to keep up.
| Introduction: Freedom and Democracy in "The People's Contest": A Complicated Role for Congress in a Complicated War |
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1 | (19) |
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A Martyr, a Speaker, and Impending Crisis: A Prologue to the Election of 1860 |
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20 | (18) |
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"Shatter This Accursed Union": The Fire-Eaters in Congress in 1860 |
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38 | (21) |
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"These Zouaves Will Never Support Us": Cowardice, Congress, and the First Battle of Bull Run |
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59 | (22) |
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The Summer of '62: Congress, Slavery, and a Revolution in Federal Law |
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81 | (32) |
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The Radicals' War: How the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War Tried to Shape the Course of the Civil War |
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113 | (34) |
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We Are Coming, Father Abraham, but How Will You Pay for Us? |
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147 | (16) |
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Why We Fight: German American Revolutionists Confront Slavery and Secession |
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163 | (22) |
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Make Mine an Abolition War: George Luther Stearns, Frederick Douglass, and the Black Soldier |
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185 | (20) |
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Military Emancipation before the Emancipation Proclamation: Overcoming Structural Obstacles |
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205 | (19) |
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Negotiating Black Manhood Citizenship through Civil War Volunteerism and Patriotism: Cincinnati's Black Brigade |
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224 | (13) |
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| Contributors |
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237 | (4) |
| Index |
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241 | |
Paul Finkelman is an expert on constitutional history, the law of slavery, and the American Civil War. He coedits the Ohio University Press series New Approaches to Midwestern Studies and is the president of Gratz College.
Donald R. Kennon is the former chief historian and vice president of the United States Capitol Historical Society. He is editor of the Ohio University Press series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 17891801.
Jenny Bourne is a professor of economics at Carleton College. She has published numerous articles on American economic history, law and economics, and public finance, as well as The Bondsman's Burden, about the economics of Southern slave laws. Her current research explores the connections between income and wealth for American households.
Nikki M. Taylor is a professor of African American history at Howard University. Her other books include Frontiers of Freedom: Cincinnati's Black Community, 18021868 and America's First Black Socialist: The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark.
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