The Road to Disunion, Volume II: Secessionists Triumphant, 1854-1861

Interview with William W. Freehling Interviewed by Christopher Childers Civil War Book Review (CWBR): The two volumes of Road to Disunion constitute a grand narrative history not often seen in recent historical writing. What compelled you to write the history of seces...

In Appreciation: Ronald A. Cass - Dean, Boston University School of Law 1990-2004

They say that first impressions are important, and Ron Cass was an important element of my first impression of Boston University School of Law. In December, 1983, fresh out of University of Chicago Law School and clerking for a federal judge, I attended the annual law school job fair, held at a hotel near O\u27Hare airport in Chicago. My appointment with Boston University was early on the first day, and the B.U. delegation consisted of Professors Ira (Chip) Lupu and Ron Cass, who was a relatively new member of the B.U. faculty. I was impressed immediately by the enthusiasm they exuded for the scholarly and teaching missions of the law school, and by the vision they charted for its future. I thought that even in that short half hour meeting I had established the basis for a long relationship with B.U., and that impression was confirmed when Ron chased me down at the elevator and invited me to lunch with Chip and him later that day. In my naive confidence, I immediately began canceling interviews with schools I considered less desirable than B.U. Little did I know that for more than twenty years, I would observe and even participate in Ron Cass\u27s efforts to realize the agenda he charted ever so briefly on that cold December morning in Chicago

'To live and die [for] Dixie': Irish civilians and the Confederate States of America

Around 20,000 Irishmen served in the Confederate army in the Civil War. As a result, they left behind, in various Southern towns and cities, large numbers of friends, family, and community leaders. As with native-born Confederates, Irish civilian support was crucial to Irish participation in the Confederate military effort. Also, Irish civilians served in various supporting roles: in factories and hospitals, on railroads and diplomatic missions, and as boosters for the cause. They also, however, suffered in bombardments, sieges, and the blockade. Usually poorer than their native neighbours, they could not afford to become 'refugees' and move away from the centres of conflict. This essay, based on research from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, British Consular records, and Federal military records, will examine the role of Irish civilians in the Confederacy, and assess the role this activity had on their integration into Southern communities. It will also look at Irish civilians in the defeat of the Confederacy, particularly when they came under Union occupation. Initial research shows that Irish civilians were not as upset as other whites in the South about Union victory. They welcomed a return to normalcy, and often 'collaborated' with Union authorities. Also, Irish desertion rates in the Confederate army were particularly high, and I will attempt to gauge whether Irish civilians played a role in this. All of the research in this paper will thus be put in the context of the Drew Gilpin Faust/Gary Gallagher debate on the influence of the Confederate homefront on military performance. By studying the Irish civilian experience one can assess how strong the Confederate national experiment was. Was it a nation without a nationalism

Free-Trade Ideology and Transatlantic Abolitionism: A Historiography

Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2015. Author's accepted version deposited in accordance with SHERPA RoMEO guidelines. The definitive version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1053837215000103.This essay seeks to trace the many—and often conflicting—economic ideological interpretations of the transatlantic abolitionist impulse. In particular, it explores the contested relationship between free-trade ideology and transatlantic abolitionism, and highlights the understudied influence of Victorian free-trade ideology within the American abolitionist movement. By bringing together historiographical controversies from the American and British side, the essay calls into question long-standing conceptions regarding the relationship between free trade and abolitionism, and suggests new avenues for research

Friends of the Greenwood Library Presents William Freehling

Dr. William W. Freehling, a noted historian and author of four books on the Civil War, gave a talk titled “Can Coincidences Change History? The Coming of the Civil War as a Test Case” at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 7 in the Greenwood Library. The program, sponsored by the Friends of the Janet D. Greenwood Library, was preceded by a reception at 6 p.m. and followed by a book signing. Books for sale at the event include Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854 (Vol. 1); Road to Disunion: Secessionists Triumphant, 1854-1861 (Vol. 2); and The South vs. the South: How Anti-Confederate Southerners Shaped the Course of the Civil War. Freehling, a senior fellow with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, has taught at Berkeley and Harvard and held professorships or endowed chairs at Michigan State, the State University of New York, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Kentucky. He has written four books on the American Civil War, three of them prize winners. His Prelude to Civil War: The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina (Oxford University, 1965) was awarded the Nevins and Bancroft Prizes. He is currently working on a book about Abraham Lincoln. Date: Friday, November 7, 2008 Time: Reception at 6:00 pm, Lecture at 7:00 pm Location: Atrium of the Greenwood Librar

The reintegration of American history : slavery and the civil war

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Showdown in Virginia: The 1861 Convention and the Fate of the Union

In the spring of 1861, Virginians confronted destiny—their own and their nation’s. Pivotal decisions awaited about secession, the consequences of which would unfold for a hundred years and more. But few Virginians wanted to decide at all. Instead, they talked, almost interminably. The remarkable record of the Virginia State Convention, edited in a fine modern version in 1965, runs to almost 3,000 pages, some 1.3 million words. Through the diligent efforts of William W. Freehling and Craig M. Simpson, this daunting record has now been made accessible to teachers, students, and general readers. With important contextual contributions—an introduction and commentary, chronology, headnotes, and suggestions for further reading—the essential core of the speeches, and what they signified, is now within reach. This is a collection of speeches by men for whom everything was at risk. Some saw independence and even war as glory; others predicted ruin and devastation. They all offered commentary of lasting interest to anyone concerned about the fate of democracy in crisis

In Appreciation: Ronald A. Cass - Dean, Boston University School of Law 1990-2004

They say that first impressions are important, and Ron Cass was an important element of my first impression of Boston University School of Law. In December, 1983, fresh out of University of Chicago Law School and clerking for a federal judge, I attended the annual law school job fair, held at a hotel near O\u27Hare airport in Chicago. My appointment with Boston University was early on the first day, and the B.U. delegation consisted of Professors Ira (Chip) Lupu and Ron Cass, who was a relatively new member of the B.U. faculty. I was impressed immediately by the enthusiasm they exuded for the scholarly and teaching missions of the law school, and by the vision they charted for its future. I thought that even in that short half hour meeting I had established the basis for a long relationship with B.U., and that impression was confirmed when Ron chased me down at the elevator and invited me to lunch with Chip and him later that day. In my naive confidence, I immediately began canceling interviews with schools I considered less desirable than B.U. Little did I know that for more than twenty years, I would observe and even participate in Ron Cass\u27s efforts to realize the agenda he charted ever so briefly on that cold December morning in Chicago