Freedom National, James Oakes
Freedom National, James Oakes
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Freedom National
The destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865

Author: James Oakes

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 18 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 12/10/2012


Synopsis

The consensus view of the Civil War—that it was first and foremost a war to restore the Union, and an antislavery war only later when it became necessary for Union victory—dies here. James Oakes’s groundbreaking history shows how deftly Lincoln and congressional Republicans pursued antislavery throughout the war, pragmatic in policy but steadfast on principle.

In the disloyal South the federal government quickly began freeing slaves, immediately and without slaveholder compensation, as they fled to Union lines. In the loyal Border States the Republicans tried coaxing officials into abolishing slavery gradually with promises of compensation. As the devastating war continued with slavery still entrenched, Republicans embraced a more aggressive military emancipation, triggered by the Emancipation Proclamation. Finally it took a constitutional amendment on abolition to achieve the Union’s primary goal in the war. Here, in a magisterial history, are the intertwined stories of emancipation and the Civil War.

About James Oakes

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Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill

The simplistic shorthand of emancipation portrays Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator who singlehandedly freed the slaves with the stroke of a pen. Contrarians who consider themselves more enlightened portray Lincoln as the Reluctant Emancipator who was forced into it, in a desperate attempt to......more

Goodreads review by Joseph

A fairly long but very interesting book that reframes (at least for me) the relationship between slavery and unionism in the Civil War. The focus of the book is on how the Republicans and Lincoln employed the doctrine of freedom national almost from the start of the Civil War to steadily weaken slav......more

The slave powers were right--the abolitionists were out to get them, willing to spend entire careers grappling with the soul sucking reality that the Constitution specifically allowed slavery by committing to using state laws to strip the profitability and ease of slavery away from the north and wes......more

Goodreads review by Joseph

A very, very detailed account of the rise and fall of slavery in America. The author tells the often poignant struggle black Americans made to become legal citizens rather than a form of property protected under the Constitution. The narrative seemed to flow very well and the only excuse I have for......more