When we study the Civil War, we have one big advantage over everyone who lived at the time: we know how it ended. We know the North won. We might, therefore, be tempted to think that a Union victory was inevitable. But the first eighteen months of the war pointed toward a very different outcome. Wilfred McClay, author of Land of Hope, tells the story.
For decades, tensions over slavery, states’ rights, and the future of the Union had been building. By the spring of 1861, the country had reached its breaking point at Fort Sumter. One final question remained: who would fire the first shot? Wilfred McClay, author of Land of Hope, tells the story of how the Civil War began.
America came to the brink of civil war over slavery in 1820, 1850, and 1861. The first two times, the country pulled back from disaster. The third time, it went over the edge. Was the Civil War unavoidable, or could the bloodiest conflict in American history have been prevented? Wilfred McClay, professor of American history at Hillsdale College and author of Land of Hope, investigates this question.
6 min
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