PDF Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson in History

Description

Filled with fresh interpretations and information; puncturing old myths and challenging new ones; Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War.James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political; social; and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight; the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War--the Dred Scott decision; the Lincoln-Douglas debates; John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry--and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles; the strategic maneuvering on both sides; the politics; and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s; the origins of the Republican Party; the causes of secession; internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South; and the reasons for the Union's victory.The book's title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict: the South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776; while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually; the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war--slavery--and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom;" as Lincoln called it; constitutes the proudest legacy of America's bloodiest conflict.This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War; a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.