Summary Of Waging War By Ken Masugi

Chapter seven is titled “Waging War on Civilians” (171). This chapter talks about the rules of war, targeting civilians, Sherman, and Sheridan’s burning of the Shenandoah Valley (174, 176, 180, 195). In the beginning of this chapter, DiLorenzo discusses what is considered a war crime and describes how it can be punishable to imprisonment or even death (174).One rule of war was that the fight is to be between soldiers and not include civilians; however, Lincoln had been waging war on civilians for years. DiLorenzo then discusses the fact that Lincoln’s most trusted generals, including Sherman, had been waging war on civilians for years also (181). He then points out further evidence of the importance these wars on civilians had in Lincoln’s war strategies. In late 1864, Lincoln had Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley burned. The goal was to prevent further Negro planting (195). Chapter eight is titled “Reconstructing America: Lincoln’s Political Legacy” (200). It includes information …show more content…
He is a strongly opposes this book and believes it to be “truly awful” (Masugi). He makes the statement “what [DiLorenzo] . . . does is recycle the articulate pro-Confederate views of Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens, Edgar Lee Masters, and Claude Bowers. He charges Lincoln with being a racist, a war criminal, and the decisive centralizer of the constitutional order and destroyer of American liberties” (Masugi). Masugi questions DiLorenzo’s motives for writing “The Real Lincoln”. He reveals many weaknesses of this book including distorting the meaning of the sources he cites, confusing the issue of race with slavery, his lack of true fact, and many other weaknesses. Another Article is titled “Getting Lincoln Right” and is written by Alexander V. Marriott. He makes the statement “DiLorenzo has reached a relatively wide audience of libertarians and conservatives” which is a strength of his work