7. Reunion
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
‘Reunion’ examines the period after the Emancipation Proclamation, the ongoing Civil War, and the presidential campaign of 1864. By the fall of 1864, large portions of the Confederacy's ...
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Epilogue
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
Is it possible to put value on the achievements of Abraham Lincoln? Lincoln was described as the Great American Man and there were many ways in which he lived up to that name. The Epilogue ...
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Epilogue
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
The epilogue looks at the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination and legacy through the eyes of the poet Walt Whitman. Volunteering in Washington’s hospitals during the war, Whitman ...
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1. Vengeance: April–December 1865
Allen C. Guelzo
in Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction
‘Vengeance, April–December 1865’ begins with the death of Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865, after being shot by the Southerner, John Wilkes Booth, and the swearing in of Lincoln’s vice ...
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Introduction
Allen C. Guelzo
in Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction
The Reconstruction era embraces the twelve years, from 1865 to 1877, of active effort to rebuild and reconstitute the American union after the attempt by the Confederate States of America ...
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1. What is populism?
Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser
in Populism: A Very Short Introduction
“What is populism?” explains the ideational approach taken by this VSI. Populism is positioned within the context of liberal democracy. It is a label seldom claimed by people or ...
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Introduction: Abolitionist agitation in a world of slavery and pain
Richard S. Newman
in Abolitionism: A Very Short Introduction
This brief survey of abolitionism focuses mostly on Anglo-American reformers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but it also surveys Atlantic-wide movements that began with slave ...
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5. Steam and Iron: The Civil War Navy (1850–1865)
Craig L. Symonds
in American Naval History: A Very Short Introduction
From 1850, the issue of slavery’s future affected nearly every aspect of American politics and government. That same decade also witnessed a virtual technological revolution that affected ...
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3. Balance of powers
David J. Bodenhamer
in The U.S. Constitution: A Very Short Introduction
Two questions guided the framers when dividing power among the branches of government: What were the limits and purposes of national power? What were the roles and responsibilities of the ...
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5. Debate
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
‘Debate’ describes the debates between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas leading up to the legislative elections in 1858. Although Douglas was re-elected, Lincoln had come within an ace of ...
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6. Emancipation
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
‘Emancipation’ explains how Lincoln responded to the secessionist crisis. The Confederates had seceded in order to avoid being coerced into emancipation. Presidents had no constitutional ...
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2. Advancement
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
‘Advancement’ describes how, in the aftermath of the War of 1812, the penetration of the markets promised a social and moral revolution equal to that of 1776, through the cheapening of ...
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Introduction
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
Abraham Lincoln is one of the most famous Americans world-wide. What has made him so well known? For Americans, in the years after his death, he was famous as the Great Emancipator of ...
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1. Equality
Allen C. Guelzo
in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction
‘Equality’ describes the arrival of Abraham Lincoln's forebears in the New World and their search for independence and prosperity. The notion that people were born into permanent borders of ...
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6. 1865 and after the war
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1865 and after the war” begins with the Confederacy taking desperate measures to try and reverse its fortunes. In March, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural and in April, Robert E. Lee ...
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4. 1863
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1863” begins with Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 . Authorizing the enlistment of black soldiers, the proclamation helped change the Union’s fortunes and ...
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5. 1864
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“1864” demonstrates that the Union defeats across Virginia in that year came at a politically precarious time for Abraham Lincoln, with rivals angling for the Republication presidential ...
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1. The origins of the Civil War
Louis P. Masur
in The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
“The origins of the civil war” summarizes the years leading up to the war, which were characterized by increasing conflict over slavery and government authority. Starting with the close of ...
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The U.S. Civil War: A Very Short Introduction
Louis P. Masur
The US Civil War: A Very Short Introduction covers a period in American history characterized by decades of intensifying conflict over slavery and government authority, ...
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6. Law: 1866–1876
Allen C. Guelzo
in Reconstruction: A Very Short Introduction
So much of Reconstruction is understood as a struggle over race, politics, and the nature of state sovereignty within a federal system that not enough attention is paid to how it was also a ...
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