![]() ![]() In the South, they celebrated liberty and self-determination, and defending their land from invaders. The Union and Confederacy, McPherson writes, both used the vocabulary of the country’s founding to paper over the conflict’s broken heart. But reading Battle Cry, in an age where the mental gymnastics of contrarianism are often celebrated for the exercise alone, is refreshing on another score: the war’s cause. ![]() Historians, including one as talented as McPherson, will probably never be done debating that. Senate with a walking cane? Was it far earlier, when the ink first dried on the Constitution’s clause deeming blacks as only three-fifths of a person? on April 12, 1861, when the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter? Was it five years earlier, when Preston Brooks attacked Charles Sumner on the floor of the U.S. Even with more than 150 years passing between the start of the Civil War and now, it is hard to pick the point where the first version of the American experiment failed. One wonders while reading about jayhawkers and copperheads, Free Soilers and nativists, Dred Scott and John Brown, if the people caught up in these events had a sense that the center could no longer hold. McPherson, now an emeritus professor from Princeton, starts the story at midcentury with the Mexican War and westward expansion, when the virus of America’s original sin - slavery - began the fever that would result in unimaginable bloodshed. If you know the key players, events and consequences, the reading pleasure is in the journey. Published in 1988, the book was written for the Oxford History of the United States series and was an attempt to compile an authoritative single volume on events that can span many more. So nostalgia, probably more than intellectual curiosity, is what led me to start reading James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. I think of the soft violin sounds in “Ashokan Farewell,” the theme to the Ken Burns series, which often wafted from my father’s television set. I think of humid Fourth of July nights, when my family would go down the street from our Maryland home to watch fireworks from the roof of a mansion where Union General Joseph Hooker was relieved of command. I think of childhood trips with dappled sunlight on Burnside’s Bridge at Antietam and the cool touch of Devil’s Den boulders at Gettysburg. In your own work though, you cite Foote frequently, over three dozen times in Battle Cry of Freedom, so I think it fair to say you have some respect for him, despite the well known shortcomings.It’s summer when I think about the Civil War. ![]() I've heard it said more than a few times that he was a writer who didn't let facts get in the way of a good story. ![]() But at the same time, while reading it I couldn't help but feel like I should be cautious with anything he wrote, as he also has reputation for being less than scholarly. Having recently read his 'Narrative', it is easy to see why he is so lauded for his writing style. McPherson, I was hoping you could talk a little bit about your views towards Shelby Foote. So please do ensure this one is sent at the top of the list, as getting it answered was the genesis of this entire AMA!ĭr. u/Anastik isn't around today, so asked me to post this question by proxy (although I'm kind of writing it how I would ask it I guess.). Our thanks go out to /u/anastik for helping get this set up. McPherson is not yet familiar with Reddit from the inside out, but he's keen to talk with everyone here all the same we're happy to be able to help. McPherson's AMA will differ somewhat from our typical ones in that it will be less "real-time" than usual the questions submitted by readers will be sent to him via e-mail, and his answers posted via a registered account with the help of one of our mods. We are very excited to welcome him to r/AskHistorians, and hope that you will have many interesting questions to ask. McPherson won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988), has served on the editorial board of Encyclopedia Britannica, as the president of the American Historical Association, and as the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus at Princeton. He is the author of numerous books on the war, the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and other related subjects - most recently War on the Waters: The Union & Confederate Navies, 1861-1865 (2012). McPherson should need no introduction to those of you who have made the Civil War a subject of particular study. ![]()
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