Was the Civil War inevitable? What really caused it? Drawing on original sources--from Jefferson Davis to Frederick Douglass--and interpretive essays by today's most influential historians, this collection of essays gives a vivid sense of the political, economic, and cultural currents that swept the nation to war.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Jim
Format:Paperback
This book is concise, and gives the causes of the Civil War. Stampp is a very well respected and well informed. Stampp gives the reader a quick yet through breakdown of the causes of the Civil War. I used this book as a source in writing a paper on the Causes of the Civil War (undergrad) and it was very helpful. This is useful for those interested in American History.
32 of 42 people found the following review helpful
By Steve Quick
Format:Paperback
some drivel, some repetitive and others stunning with fresh insight. Impossible to characterize as biased because of the variety of sources. What is called the "American Civil War" is a complex event which is difficult to untangle from all that preceded or followed it. The self-rightousness, aggrandizing commercial motives of the North were often masked as moral crusades and the theme emerged time and time again as I read. I would have to add this as a "must read" for anyone who is serious about scholarship of the period.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a seminal work for any student of the Civil War. It gives the opinions of those that actually lived through it, opinions from before, during, and after the war. These opinions are conflicting of course. For me it was not the type of book you can just sit down and read but rather a book to browse from time to time. An absolutely fascinating book.
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm sort of surprised at the first two reviews. The first gentleman refers to the book as "drivel," even though Stampp used mostly primary sources. The second reviewer falls victim to the Neo-Confederate idea that slavery had nothing to do with the American Civil War--while clumsily avoiding the incredible mountain of primary sources that prove slavery WAS an issue. Stampp's book is a cornerstone of Civil War Historiography, and any serious student of the American Civil War would do well to read this excellent book. Don't be put off by the fact that The Causes of the Civil War was originally a textbook--it is both readable, and a quick read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Whit
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I rather enjoyed this resource about the Civil war and the era preceding and following. I found the use of articles, journal entries, letters, speeches and historic documents from multiple centuries rather valuable. To see how the perception of the Civil War has changed over the past 150 years is fascinating and watching the trend of history revisionism, conservatism, and liberalism that directly affects how we address history and teach history. I believe this book should be a staple in a Univeristy classroom that educates about this era. I say let the students see multiple sources and let them make their own conclusions on who is "guilty, innocent, and caught in the middle". Too often we are given one perspective on a very diverse and complicated event and we are supposed to accept a simple reason for it. There is much more to the politics and secession issues within the Confederacy and the Union. This book allows a student to see how both the North and South have their faults in this conflict.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a historian, finding quality primary sources can often be difficult. This book was perfect for my needs! Easy to read and very thorough.
By Tom R
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very interesting and informative. Several interesting essays on the true causes of the Civil War. One might think after 150 years the causes would be engraved in granite but not so with the American Civil War.
35 of 102 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sure, just another book that on one hand tells us that only a small minority of Quaker 'fanatics' were abolitionists, and that the war was over expansion and not slavery, and then the next minute have us all believe that Union troops faught and died to end slavery when in many of their hometowns there were laws that forbid blacks, Indians, and mulatooes from staying in town after sundown. If you believe that people died for this, then you need to be reading bedtime stories. The war was fought over MONEY, POWER, and caused by disagreement between Constitutional Federalists and Jeffersonians. Even the Supreme Court ruled that secession was allowed under the Constitution (in 1862 I believe), but in their ruling said basically that 'this is our ruling, but to no avail, because the issue is being decided on the battlefields as we speak'.
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 29
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38
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- Southern Editorials on Secession by Dwight Dumond on 4 pages
- The Imperiled Union: Essays on the Background of the Civil War by Kenneth M. Stampp in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings by Roy Basler on page 136, and page 139
- Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln by A. Lincoln on page 136, and page 139
- PECULIAR INSTITUT V253 by Kenneth M. Stampp in Front Matter
See all 29 books this book cites
- The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln--Teddy Roosevelt--Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America by Steven R. Weisman in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- We Are All Together Now: Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison and the Prophetic Tradition by William B. Rogers on page 46, page 84, and Back Matter
- The Routledge Companion to the American Civil War Era (Routledge Companions to History) by Hugh Tulloch in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln to Wilson--The Fierce Battles over Money and Power That Transformed the Nation by Steven R. Weisman in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Rich Man's War: Class, Caste, and Confederate Defeat in the Lower Chattahoochee Valley by David Williams in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 38 books citing this book
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