Civil War - Raw History

Civil War

As this site is dedicated to obscure works and lesser known authors, it does not seek to construct comprehensive histories of any subject. Consequently, many excerpts will be from minority or contrarian views. For instance, many of the tags for the Civil War page will be from Copperheads or Confederates. Their inclusion is not necessarily an endorsement of their views but, rather, is intended to create a more complete understanding, right or wrong, of the subject.

The Origins of the Civil War: Thoughts by Walt Whitman, 1875.

The Origins of the Civil War: Thoughts by Walt Whitman, 1875.

Such, I say, form’d the entire personnel, the atmosphere, nutriment and chyle, of our municipal, State and National Politics—substantially permeating, handling, deciding and wielding everything—

The Real Factions of the War: Thoughts by Alexander H. Stephens, 1868

The Real Factions of the War: Thoughts by Alexander H. Stephens, 1868

The contest was between those who held it to be strictly Federal in its character, and those who maintained that it was thoroughly National. It was a strife between the principles of Federation, on the one side, and Centralism, or Consolidation, on the other.

The Institutions of a People: From Alexander Stephens' Union Speech, November 14, 1860

The Institutions of a People: From Alexander Stephens' Union Speech, November 14, 1860

And when once the Institutions of our people shall have been destroyed, there is no earthly power that can bring back the Promethean spark, to kindle them here again, any more than in that ancient land of eloquence, poetry and song!

Despotism & Civil Liberties in the North Compared with the Confederacy: Thoughts by Edward Alfred Pollard, 1865

Despotism & Civil Liberties in the North Compared with the Confederacy: Thoughts by Edward Alfred Pollard, 1865

The unholy passions of this war, its hate, its greed, its dire revenge, its desperation, induced the people of the North to compromise their constitutional rights.

Book Ends: Richard Henry Lee & Alexander Stephens on the Consolidation of the States

Anti Federalist

Book Ends: Richard Henry Lee & Alexander Stephens on the Consolidation of the States

It's interesting to read two eras of history that address, in relative terms, the same subject. In this case, the topic is the consolidation of the several States into one centralized government. Those who became known in history as the Anti-Federalists routinely predicted that the Constitution would lead to the

The Failure of the Crittenden Compromise & The Inauguration of War.

C Chauncey Burr

The Failure of the Crittenden Compromise & The Inauguration of War.

In his work, The Old Guard, C. Chauncey Burr addressed myriad issues related to the development and prosecution of the Civil War. In this case, he addressed the Crittenden Compromise. The Crittenden Compromise proposed a series of constitutional amendments proposed in Congress in 1860 to ameliorate friction between proslavery and

The Weapons of the Administration: The Boston Courier, Civil War Era.

C Chauncey Burr

The Weapons of the Administration: The Boston Courier, Civil War Era.

The national narrative of the Civil War often excludes the critics of President Abraham Lincoln. Copperhead, C. Chauncey Burr, had plenty of maledictions for the President. In this case, Burr lets the Boston Courier do the work. August Glen-James, editor The Boston Courier thus paints the face of Lincolnism: The

"Nations, once fallen, seldom rise again." Thoughts by C. Chauncey Burr during the Civil War.

C Chauncey Burr

"Nations, once fallen, seldom rise again." Thoughts by C. Chauncey Burr during the Civil War.

Copperhead, C. Chauncey Burr, saw in the Civil War the potential of a fundamental decay of the nations principles. This was alarming for Burr since, quoting an unidentified source, he wrote that "there is no resurrection" for nations. Of interest in this post are the lessons Burr draws from Rome

General Robert E. Lee's Policies in Pennsylvania: Thoughts by Edward Alfred Pollard, 1865

General Robert E. Lee's Policies in Pennsylvania: Thoughts by Edward Alfred Pollard, 1865

The effect of his moderate warfare on such a people was to irritate them without intimidating them. . . .

Freedom of Speech: Thoughts by C. Chauncey Burr, 1865

C Chauncey Burr

Freedom of Speech: Thoughts by C. Chauncey Burr, 1865

Freedom of speech has been in the news a lot lately as the nation, like a ship on the high seas, lists left and right in the heavy political storms of our day. Our nation has weathered heavy storms in the past with the nadir, arguably, being during the Civil

The Nature of the Union: Patrick Henry answered by James Madison and analyzed by Jefferson Davis.

Anti Federalist

The Nature of the Union: Patrick Henry answered by James Madison and analyzed by Jefferson Davis.

What exactly is the nature of the government framed by the Constitution . . . a confederation of sovereign states or a consolidated nation of "we the people"? Many in the founding generation, like Patrick Henry, worried that the proposed constitution of 1787 was intended to and would result in a consolidated nation

The Difference Between Nullification and Secession: Thoughts by Jefferson Davis, 1881.

The Difference Between Nullification and Secession: Thoughts by Jefferson Davis, 1881.

Nullification and secession were hot-button issues in the 19th century . . . and seemingly still are today. As power in Washington, D.C. oscillates from one party to the other, the elements in the ousted faction often saber rattles about secession and nullification. With this in mind, it may be interesting to

"Dixie After the War" by Myrta Lockett Avary, Originally published in 1909.

"Dixie After the War" by Myrta Lockett Avary, Originally published in 1909.

The era of "Reconstruction" was transitional in U. S. History. Years of sectional bickering culminated in a horrific war, which took the lives of hundreds of thousands, maimed countless others, and destroyed billions in property holdings throughout the Southern states. Then, this fratricidal conflict crashed, headlong, into a bitter Reconstruction

Lessons of the Civil War in North Carolina: Thoughts by Cornelia Phillips Spencer--Originally published in 1866

Lessons of the Civil War in North Carolina: Thoughts by Cornelia Phillips Spencer--Originally published in 1866

In her work, The Last Ninety Days of the War, Cornelia Phillips Spencer had some interesting thoughts contrasting the the war spirit vis-a-vis the cautionary thoughts of the old "fogies" before the war and the lessons learned at the end of the conflict in North Carolina via her analysis. August

The Enlistment of Slaves in the Confederate Army: Thoughts by General John B. Gordon

The Enlistment of Slaves in the Confederate Army: Thoughts by General John B. Gordon

First published in 1944, the Beard's New Basic History of the United States contained the following passage: > In the Proclamation of Emancipation, issued under his war powers, Lincoln declared thenceforward and forever free all the slaves in all the districts of the United States then in arms against the Union.

True Americanism: A Speech by Carl Schurz, 1859.

General Interest

True Americanism: A Speech by Carl Schurz, 1859.

Biography: Born in Germany in 1829, Carl Schurz fled his home country as a “forty-Eighter” after an unsuccessful revolution. He came to America in 1852 via France and England. Being against both slavery and its extension into the territories, he naturally joined the Republican party. He served as a Major

Causes of the Civil War: Thoughts by General John B. Gordon, C.S.A., 1903.

Causes of the Civil War: Thoughts by General John B. Gordon, C.S.A., 1903.

Implored for years to write his memoirs, General John B. Gordon complied just in the nick of time: he died January 9, 1904 at the age of 71. Writing about the Civil War, however, was problematic. Many worked to heal the nation, but crimination and recrimination between North and South

Lincoln's Proposed Amendment about Slavery, 1862

Lincoln's Proposed Amendment about Slavery, 1862

Interestingly, in his annual message to Congress, December 1, 1862, Abraham Lincoln proposed an amendment to the Constitution dealing with the slavery issue. Below is a summary of the main articles with additional quotes and analyses. August Glen-James, editor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Art.—Every State wherein slavery now exists which shall

Reconstruction in North Carolina: Thoughts by Zebulon B. Vance, 1890

Reconstruction in North Carolina: Thoughts by Zebulon B. Vance, 1890

Few eras in U.S. History are as acrimonious as Reconstruction after the Civil War. Reconstruction can be divided into two approaches: Presidential Reconstruction and Congressional Reconstruction. It's fair to say that the South's surrender happened under the relatively mild overtures from the Lincoln administration. Of course, Lincoln was assassinated:

Defining the Union: Views from the North and South via William Russell, 1861.

Defining the Union: Views from the North and South via William Russell, 1861.

William Russell was an Irish reporter for The Times. He is considered to be one of the first war correspondents having reported, for instance, on the Crimean War. He happened to be in the United States when the Civil War was beginning and wrote several letters with interesting observations. The

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution: Thoughts by Robert Toombs

Anti Federalist

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution: Thoughts by Robert Toombs

Robert Toombs was a Georgia politician who served in the United States House of Representatives & Senate, and then served in the Confederate government after secession. His criticism of the Constitution of 1787 is not idiosyncratic as many amongst the Founders and others in subsequent generations voiced concerns about the motivations

Free Labor, Slave Labor, and Sectional Politics: William Leggett, February 10, 1835

Free Labor, Slave Labor, and Sectional Politics: William Leggett, February 10, 1835

This selection comes from an editorial entitled, "Governor McDuffie's Message." The editorial was primarily engineered to assure Governor McDuffie of South Carolina that the "democracy" of the North, i.e., Northern Democrats, were not "immediate abolitionist" fanatics and posed no threat to the South's Constitutional rights in property. To one

Declaration of Causes: Georgia's Secession, 1861.

Declaration of Causes: Georgia's Secession, 1861.

In Requiem for a Nun, William Faulkner wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." A truer statement, I contend, has never been uttered. One of the great surprises of my life was to discover, some years ago, that the Civil War wasn't really over. It still directly

There will be an end of Slavery: A conversation with Frederick Law Olmsted, 1856.

There will be an end of Slavery: A conversation with Frederick Law Olmsted, 1856.

In his book, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, Frederick Law Olmsted recounted a train journey that, along with passengers and slaves, was delivering a load of hay to a plantation at, what he thought, was an exorbitant rate. Many forage crops could be raised in South, he surmised.

New York at the Beginning of the Civil War, William Russell, 1861

New York at the Beginning of the Civil War, William Russell, 1861

William Russell was an Irish reporter for The Times. He is considered to be one of the first war correspondents having reported, for instance, on the Crimean War. He happened to be in the United States when the Civil War was beginning and wrote several letters with interesting observations. In