David M. Potter (1910–1971)

This is a reread of one of my favorite books. This is an excellent narrative history of the political events leading up to the Civil War. I consider it the best book on how the Civil War started that I have read. It is a thick 600 pages and took me a couple of weeks to read. The focus is on the events more than the personalities. If any character stands out it is Stephen Douglas. His decision to go South at the end of the 1860 presidential campaign to try to save the Union is lauded as an show more act of courage. President Buchanan is prominent for his poor handling of the Kansas crisis and the Lecompton Constitution.
Each chapter is a detailed analysis of the events that led to secession and Civil War. The emphasis is on the details. For instance the decision to attack Fort Sumter by the Confederate government took place on on April 9, 1861, four years to the day before the surrender at Appomattox. After setting out the choices available based upon the circumstances the author then discusses the decisions that were made and why.
The analysis of the alternatives and choices made lift this book a cut above the standard narrative history. It is not often that I come across this level of scholarship. Another plus is the author's discussion of how many of the events have been dealt with by other historians. I read a lot of the textual footnotes which contain a lot of the most interesting details.
The secondary sources are a little dated but the heavy reliance on primary sources gives me confidence in the author's scholarship.
The author conveyed a very clear understanding of the events and why the actors made the choices they did. In order to fully enjoy the book I think it would be important to have some knowledge of the topic. I enjoyed the book very much and learned a lot more the second time around. show less

David M. Potter is a very good author who wrote one of my favorite books, The Impending Crisis. This books covers a short section of the same period. Potter does very thorough research. His footnotes in this book are about seventy percent primary sources. There are citations to newspaper articles, the Congressional Globe and numerous letters. I can imagine that literally years of work went into this volume.
Potter is also a disciplined historian and always writes from the perspectives of the show more time he is writing about not from what we know now. Many historians cannot resist narrating from the present making all that has happened seem inevitable. This deprives the reader of learning what it was like to go through the events when the future was still unknown.
In this book Potter refutes the thesis of many Southern writers who argue that Lincoln tricked the South into starting the Civil War. The Lincoln portrayed here is almost naive in his belief of strong Unionist sentiment in the South. Many of his actions were taken in an attempt to bring about a peaceful reunion based upon this belief. This conclusion seems to be where the evidence led not the author seeking to come up with a controversial point of view to make a name for himself. I have never seen the idea of peaceful reunion emphasized as it is here. Lincoln's strategy was to keep the border states, including Virginia, from seceding. Then the seven gulf states would return. There was actually a period in February when five states voted against secession. Other writers seem to accept the secession and war as inevitable and do not explore the alternatives seen by the leadership at the time.
Seward was even more placating to the South and his attempt to run the administration began with the policy on Fort Sumter. As portrayed here up until early April of 1861 there was strong sentiment to evacuate the fort. Seward even made some commitments that the fort would be evacuated. It is these types of actions that are used to argue that the Northern leadership was maneuvering the South into starting the war. The Northern leadership actually allowed itself to be led astray by unrealistic optimism that the South would return without war. The actual beginning of the war is beyond the scope of the book.
This book was written in 1942 but the conclusions of the author are still new ideas in the writing about secession. I enjoyed the book and think that anyone studying this period should get the benefit of the author's perspective. show less

Great account of all the issues leading up to civil war- from Kansas, to Dred Scott, to John Brown to the exciting 1860 election and finally to the dicey period from dec 60 to april 61 - as states balanced competing interests. Just the right amount of detail and personal color to draw the story out, but not so much as to bog it down. Outstanding.

While dry in parts and somewhat dated, this almost 65 year old book was full of interesting observations, many which seem eerily applicable to today's United States.