Introduction

Civil War and Reconstruction (1856 to 1869) offers a compelling overview of one of the central events in U. S. history: the “War of the Rebellion.” The issues at stake in this era—sovereignty and freedom—reached from the highest levels of the constitutional and political arenas into the lives of ordinary people—rich and poor, black and white, men and women, Northern and Southern. Civil War and Reconstruction provides the eager student of the period, roughly covering the last half of the 19th century, with an understanding of the dramatic political and military conflict and an appreciation of the sheer tragedy of the American Civil War. Additionally, Volume V of the Encyclopedia of American History tells the story of the war itself within a framework for analyzing the larger social and economic processes that transformed the United States. Thus, students consulting the entries in Civil War and Reconstruction will be able to formulate answers to the three major questions that have fascinated people since the end of the conflict: What were the causes of the war? Why did the North win? Was Reconstruction a success or failure?

The entries in Civil War and Reconstruction reflect the wide diversity and richness of the scholarship on the war and its aftermath. No student of the period can be considered well educated without a solid understanding of, for example, Bleeding Kansas, the rise of the Republican Party, the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the secession of the Southern states, the establishment of the Confederate States of American, the Battle of Gettysburg, the significance of the so-called Reconstruction Amendments, and the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson. In short, Volume V covers the constitutional, military, political, and economic aspects of the Civil War, with an extensive entry list of people, places, laws, battles, and social movements. Similarly, the student of the 21st century must be aware of the cultural, racial, and gender issues that have cast a new light on traditional assumptions. The experiences of the common soldiers, changing women’s roles, the revolutionary nature of enrolling African-American men to fight as Union soldiers, the breakdown of slavery, and bringing the reality of emancipation to bear upon an embittered white Southern population are all important parts of the time that are well covered in Civil War and Reconstruction.

The poet and writer Robert Penn Warren once famously assessed the Civil War as the most important event in our history. “It may,” he claimed, “in fact, be said to be American history.” The legacy of the Civil War and Reconstruction continues to shape the current United States in profoundly importantly ways.

This volume should be considered both a departure point for those who wish to begin their exploration of the era, as well as for those who want to acquire more knowledge about particular aspects of the United States during a crucial turning point in its history. It is truly a saga of epic proportions.

—Joan Waugh University of California, Los Angeles