A Disease in the Public Mind

A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War

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By Thomas Fleming

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By the time John Brown hung from the gallows for his crimes at Harper's Ferry, Northern abolitionists had made him a “holy martyr” in their campaign against Southern slave owners. This Northern hatred for Southerners long predated their objections to slavery. They were convinced that New England, whose spokesmen had begun the American Revolution, should have been the leader of the new nation. Instead, they had been displaced by Southern “slavocrats” like Thomas Jefferson. This malevolent envy exacerbated the South's greatest fear: a race war. Jefferson's cry, “We are truly to be pitied,” summed up their dread. For decades, extremists in both regions flung insults and threats, creating intractable enmities. By 1861, only a civil war that would kill a million men could save the Union.

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On Sale
May 7, 2013
Page Count
384 pages
Publisher
Da Capo Press
ISBN-13
9780306822018

Thomas Fleming

About the Author

Thomas Fleming, a distinguished historian and author of more than fifty books, was a frequent guest on PBS, A&E, and the History Channel. He also contributed articles to American Heritage, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and many other magazines.

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