Race and Recruitment: Civil War History Readers, Volume 2

Title Page, Copyright

“Civil War History has long been the premier outlet for some of the best scholarship on America’s sectional conflict. Now John David Smith has turned his sharp historiographical eye to past issues of the journal with the purpose of gathering together a volume of articles dealing with the broad themes of race and recruitment. His judgment does not fail us. Historians of the era are in his debt for providing them with a convenient selection of exceptional articles that should remind them of the richness of their chosen field of study.” PAul AlAN CimbAlA professor of history, Fordham university “Race and Recruitment pulls readers right into the middle of the most important scholarly conversations about race, slavery, and the Civil War that have taken place over the last half century. Each of these sixteen essays has stood the test of time, asking the big questions and offering the answers that have forever changed the way historians talk about the middle of the nineteenth century. The resulting volume is a showcase of compelling research, writing, and thinking from some of the nation’s most influential historians. it should command a prominent spot on Civil War bookshelves.” Amy murrEll TAylor author of The Divided Family in Civil War America “This is an invaluable collection of essays that continue to influence the best writing on the subjects addressed. No library or Civil War historian should be without it.” bruCE lEviNE author of The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South “Scholars who have over the years exulted in the essays appearing in Civil War History can now find the best of them collected in this excellently edited volume. Nonspecialists and students, too, will learn much from these considerations of some of the most important questions of the era, including the politics of antislavery, the wartime turn to emancipation, and the contested memory of the Civil War. The array of perspectives, methods, and interpretations offered in Race and Recruitment is powerful testimony to the significance of this important journal.” PATriCk rAEl editor of African-American Activism before the Civil War: The Freedom Struggle in the Antebellum North For nearly sixty years the journal Civil War History has presented the best original scholarship in the study of America’s greatest struggle. in this second Civil War History reader, John David Smith has selected from the journal groundbreaking essays by David blight, Eugene Genovese, mark Neely Jr., brooks Simpson, and others that examine slavery, abolitionism, emancipation, lincoln and race, and African Americans as soldiers and veterans. His introduction assesses the contribution of each article to our understanding of the Civil War era. Those with an interest in the issues, struggles, and controversies that divided a nation will welcome this essential collection. Race and Recruitment Civil WAR HiSToRy rEADErS Conflict and Command Edited by John T. Hubbell Race and Recruitment Edited by John David Smith Civil WAR HiSToRy rEADErS volumE 2 race and recruitment Edited by JoHN DAviD SmiTH the kent state university press Kent, ohio © 2013 by The kent State university Press, kent, ohio 44242 All rights reserved library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013012602 isbn 978-1-60635-180-2 manufactured in the united States of America library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data race and recruitment / edited by John David Smith. p. cm. — (Civil War history readers) includes index. isbn 978-1-60635-180-2 (pbk.) ∞ 1. Antislavery movements—united States—History—19th century. 2. Slaves—Emancipation—united States. 3. united States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—African Americans. 4. united States—History—Civil War, 1861– 1865—Participation, African Americans. 5. united States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—veterans. 6. African American veterans—History—19th century. 7. lincoln, Abraham, 1809–1865—views on slavery. 8. lincoln, Abraham, 1809– 1865—relations with African Americans. 9. united States—race relations— History—19th century. i. Smith, John David, 1949–editor of compilation. ii. Title: race and recruitment. E449.r1227 2013 973.7'415—dc23 2013012602 17 16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1 ...