Title: Ordeal by Fire
Subtitle: The Civil War and Reconstruction
First published: 1981
Description: The Civil War is the central event in the American historical consciousness. While the Revolution of 1776-1783 created the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865 preserved this creation from destruction and determined, in large measure, what sort of nation it would be. The war settled two fundamental issues for the United States: whether it was to be a nation with a sovereign national government, or a dissoluble confederation of sovereign states; and whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men are created with an equal right to liberty, was to continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world. The Constitution of 1789 had left these issues unresolved. By 1861 there was no way around them; one way or another, a solution had to be found. - Preface.
Subjects: Causes, History, Reconstruction, Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877), United States, United States Civil War, 1861-1865, Histoire, Sezessionskrieg, Geschichte 1865-1877, War, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, United states, history, 1865-1898, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, causes
Places: United States
Time periods: 1865-1898, Civil War, 1861-1865