What This Cruel War Was Over Analysis

Many historians believe that the reason for the war was strictly over the presence of slavery, particularly its expansion into the western states after the Mexican Cession. However, other historians argue that it was over the preservation of the Union, in which the ideals and principles established in the Constitution were violated when the Confederacy was created. Discussion over the split meanings of the war in the North is clearly demonstrated by Chandra Manning’s book, What This Cruel War Was Over, and Gary Gallagher’s The Union War. Manning argues that the North fought the war due to the abolition of slavery while Gallagher argues that the war was fought in the North to preserve the Union. While both historians have different arguments …show more content…
He argues that the “Union was the key, and for many in the loyal states, it had a meaning that extended far beyond the United States…affirming the rule of law under the Constitution and punishing slaveholding aristocrats whose selfish actions had compromised the work of the founding generation.” Gallagher is therefore arguing that Southerners were going against the principles set up by the founding fathers and therefore Northerners were focused on punishing Southerners for going against the Union. Gallagher also mentions that unlike Manning, data has shown that very few northerners had encountered slaves and therefore the idea of slavery was not as much of a concern: “Demographic data illuminate a dominant antebellum society and culture conducive to forming a white centered worldview. In 1860, the Free states and territories contained 19,048,849 people, of whom 18,822,654 (98.8 percent) where white and 226,195 (1.2 percent) black.” Similarly, Gallagher also mentions the diary of a young Republican man while active in politics, never mentions the events of slavery or slave rebellions. Therefore, Gallagher argues that there was not much on the aspect of slavery and its emancipation on the minds of Northerners. Gallagher, unlike Manning, also argues that the reason that the Union was on the minds of Northerners was because of the message it sent to other nations about their policies and immigration. Gallagher argues, “In the absence of Union success, rulers around the world would restrict suffrage, strengthen privileged classes, reduce popular rights, and increase burdens on poor men whose economic opportunities would shrivel.” Therefore Gallagher argues that if the Union was not successful, then there would not be a model for immigrants to uphold as the United States as a democratic, free and full of opportunities if the South were to