Preview

Chapter Summary: The Road To Disunion

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
232 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Chapter Summary: The Road To Disunion
This book focuses on the of number southern black and white who opposed the confedecy. He documented in The Road to Disunion, that anti-Confederates got strength from the weakness of slavery in the Border South, while slavery stunted population growth. The author argues that the varying support of the upper and lower South contributed to the fall of the Confederacy placing most of the blame on anti confederalist. He states that anti-Confederate whites undermined the Confederacy by remaining outside the nation while slaves unified form within and enlisted into the Union Army. Both groups guaranteed that the Union would have more men for the army which cause the Confederacy to lose because anti-Confederates waged war against Confederate southerners. That author also discusses the neutrality of the border slave states that made the Confederate war effort vulnerable. Losing nearly half of the slave states neutrality and the support for the Union army's invasion damaged the geography and population that the Confederacy could use for its defense. …show more content…
Feeling explains that what doomed the Confederacy was slave laborers, “black versus white" He states that Union used runaways slaves as garrison keepers, home guards, military workers, and cooks who added numbers to strengthen the northern

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This first entry into the book showcases the side of the southern Confederate armies, who were comparing the Civil War to the Revolutionary War. They saw their enemies, the Northern Yankees, as nothing more than tyrants trying to oppress the south. Just as the British had done to the colonists a century and a half ago. This gave them a "holy cause of southern freedom", a reason to step into the shoes of their famed forefathers and once again fight for their liberties and constitutional rights.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People, who think that the South broke away from the Union in the late 1860s because of slavery, should read this book. The reason is, Dew gives a dark and factual view of how much racist fears and slavery propaganda in leading up to the secession of the South’s states by speeches and writings of the secessionist commissioners appointed by South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. This opened my mind as to why, how, and what caused the secession?…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Historians have argued inconclusively for years over the prime reason for Confederate defeat in the Civil War. The book Why the North Won the Civil War outlines five of the most agreed upon causes of Southern defeat, each written by a highly esteemed American historian. The author of each essay does acknowledge and discuss the views of the other authors. However, each author also goes on to explain their botheration and disagreement with their opposition. The purpose of this essay is to summarize each of the five arguments presented by Richard N. Current, T. Harry Williams, Norman A. Graebner, David Herbert Donald, and David M. Potter. Each author gives his insight on one of the following five reasons: economic, military, diplomatic, social, and political, respectively.…

    • 1300 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The popular outlook of the American Civil War is that the Confederacy was defeated by the Union Army with the combined leadership of Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman. They lost because of the Union’s overwhelming manpower and economic advantages. However, there is more to it than just that. In the book Confederate Reckoning, author Stephanie McCurry states that the Confederate States of America did themselves in due to structural issues within their society. The book presents a “political history of the unfranchised” referring to Southern slaves and wartime women. Ironically, the most underrepresented groups would be one of the downfalls of the Confederacy. Slaves and women became unexpected consequences for the Confederacy as the government was forced to…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I. Introduction A. Beginning of Civil War: Reasons, Fort Sumter, Confederate capital B. First Battle of Bull Run C. Preparing for War D. War in the West E. War in the East F. The South Attacks II. Beginning of Civil War: A. Causes leading up to the Civil War – Freedom Rights B. Attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In his second inaugural address in March 1865, Abraham Lincoln looked back at the beginning of the Civil War four years earlier "all knew," he said, that slavery "was somehow the cause of the war." This essay will endeavour to discuss the role of long term divisions caused by the slavery debate in the eventual outbreak of the Civil War. In doing so this analysis will encompass the period between the birth of the nation beginning with the start of the American Revolution in 1763 and the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. This being a period in which the newly independent nation struggled with its state system, with each of the former colonies possessing the rights to a significant level of self-governance that inevitably led to disagreements and conflicts of interest. One such conflict was the disagreement over slavery which James Ford, like Lincoln, believes was crucial in creating a clear North-South divide that would eventually lead to the Civil War. Whilst recognising slavery’s overwhelming contribution to the outbreak of the American civil war in 1861, one must acknowledge alternative factors beyond slavery, which contributed to the nations descent towards armed conflict. Revisionists such as William Gienapp and William Freehling emphasise the political contribution to the outbreak of the war and the influence of sectional ideology on ante bellum politics. It was this differing ideology that created the tensions between Southern and Northern parties creating political chaos during the 1850s, the North believing they were attempting to save democracy whilst the South campaigned for increased States’ rights, all of which provoked the outbreak of war. As well as the long-term divisions over slavery and the short term political contributions to the outbreak of war, historians such as Charles and Mary Beard placed emphasis on the…

    • 4190 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After the Constitution was received by the greater part of the States in 1789, uniting the States into one country, contrasts between the States had been worked out through compromises. By 1861 these contrasts between the Northern States (which incorporated the Mid-Western and Western States) and the Southern States had turned out to be great to the point that compromise would no more work. Along these lines, a contention began inside of our country that was known as the Civil War. This Civil War was absolutely encouraged by the vigorous requests of numerous Northerners for the prompt abrogation of subjugation. Yet, an examination of the occasions driving specifically to war will demonstrate that Southern politicians likewise must share a great…

    • 159 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are constant debates on why did the South lose the Civil War. The Civil War ended 150 years ago but that has not affected historians to question the outcome of the war for the Confederacy. According to Gary Gallagher, many historians work backward starting from Appomattox to explain the failure of the war. He continues by stating that those historians claim the reasoning for the failure was caused by the lack will to win the war by the Confederates. Gary Gallagher disagrees with these methods historians use. Gary Gallagher believes that the best way to understand why the Confederates lost the Civil War takes a different approach. This is Gary W. Gallagher’s thesis in his The Confederate War is “Why did so many Confederates fight for so long? Until this question receives the detailed attention long accorded the first, the history of the Confederacy will remain imperfectly understood” (17).…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The life in the camps was not great. The camps were full of disease and malnutrition was present. The projects they work was known as the “drudgework” of war. They raised fortifications, cooked meals, and laid railroad track. The life was difficult but the opportunity was freedom. With slaves coming up to the north, a dilemma arose with the Union Army on what to do with the slaves but was resolved by the First Confiscation Act. In the document “General Benjamin F Butler reacts to self-emancipating slaves, 1861”, he states that without slaves the southern plantations will be behind for a couple weeks and the plantation owners will need to find new people to carry out these jobs. Butler is explaining with this law the north can gain an advantage against the south. The textbook and this primary document explain in more detail about slaves coming from the south and are placed in “contraband camps” in the north. The text gives more detail on the life in the camps and the document provides more detail on the thoughts of the General in the Union…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ever since the birth of The United States, we have shown resilience and determination, starting with the Revolutionary war. As years passed and national division became evident there was discussion on who would win the fight between the free and enslaved states. Over time it has become apparent that the colonies and the confederacy have shared many qualities, which makes one wonder how is it that the colonies won, but the confederacy did not? The reason the South didn’t win the Civil War was because they were outgunned, out supplied, received no international aid and this time, their enemy wasn’t an ocean away.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cannons explode in the background as men around you fall down. Everything is madness. You look into the eyes of your cousin from up North before he shoots you. Why is this happening? The Civil War, fought by the Union (the “North”) and the Confederate States of America (“the South”) took place between 1861 and 1865. Several slave states that declared secession formed the Confederacy. The issue of the war was slavery. The South depended on it and the North wanted to abolish it. So what caused this war? This paper will argue economics was the most important factor in starting the war. However Social and Political differences played a big role.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Civil War Homefront

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Davis, Kenneth C. Don 't Know Much about the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know about America 's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned. New York: William Morrow, 1996.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It influenced and molded their views on slavery and whether it was inhumane or not. The social status and way of life of both the North and South were separating them. As Allan Nevins wrote in his book, The Ordeals of the Union (1947-1971), “the North and South were rapidly becoming separate peoples…the fundamental assumptions, tastes and cultural aims of the two regions” were unmistakable causes of the Civil War. The fear that slavery would spread into the North and “threaten the position of free white laborers, as mentioned in Eric Foner’s Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men (1970), was one of the main reasons why Northerners opposed slavery. The assumption that the South created, as mentioned in Eugene Genovese’s book, The Political Economy of Slavery, “that the slave system provided a far more humane society than industrial labor” separated them from the North. The two different cultural outlooks of the both the North and South caused them to separate into two factions, causing the start of the Civil…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They believed they owned the slaves—not as people but as property. This sense of ownership blinded slave owners with greed and self-indulgence. They were focused on making profits and abusing their “property.” They were working towards immorality and corruption without the slightest remorse of their actions. However, there were some owners who, compared to others, treated their workers with a bit more compassion. These owners taught their laborers how to read and write. They, although seemingly cruel to their fellow Northerners, didn’t abuse their right of ownership. Instead of completely taking control of a slave’s mind, they gave him a taste of the outside world to suppress their rebellious mindsets. Owning slaves gave southerner’s power over them, granting them…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fate of Their Country

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages

    "To locate the most direct causes of the American Civil War," he contends in the preface, "one must look at the actions of governmental officeholders in the decades before that horrific conflict." Professor Michael F Holt needs no introduction among historians. He is single handedly regarded as one of the scholars who is most responsible for the emergence of what some call a neo-revisionist interpretation and outlook about the origins and circumstances that resulted in the Civil War. His ideas which are reflected throughout his books especially “The Fate of their country” emphasize that the reasons which caused The Civil War could have been and should have been averted. Defending this ideology Holt criticizes historians who stand by their argument of “Sectional conflict over slavery and slavery extension caused the Civil War”. Instead he preaches throughout his works that include many influential books including “The Fate of their Country” that, contingent political factors played a very huge and predominant role is stimulations factors causing disunion among the states.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays