This study of slavery focuses initially on the drastic revisions in the historical debate on slavery and the present understanding of "the peculiar institution." It gives a concise explanation of the nature of American slavery and its impact on the slaves themselves and on Southern society and culture. And it broadens our understanding of the debates among historians about slavery; compares Southern slavery with slavery elsewhere in the New World; and shows how slavery evolved and changed over time--and how it ended. Peter Parish examines some of the important recent works on slavery to...

The conviction that the American Civil War left a massive legacy to the country has generally been much clearer than the definition of what that legacy is. Did the war, as Ulysses S. Grant believed, bequeath power, intelligence, and sectional harmony to America, or did it, as many have argued since, sow racial and regional bitterness that has blighted the nation since 1865? What, exactly, was the legacy of disunion? This collection explores that question from a variety of angles, showcasing the work of twelve scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom. The essays ponder the role...

In this rich collection, a leading historian argues that in order to fully understand the Civil War, we need to grasp the relationship between American national identity and the values of Northern society. Northerners shaped nationalism into an ideology to justify and sustain a war against the South. Parish explores politics and religion as sinews that connected Northerners to the Union cause.

This text includes over 600 entries in political, social and economic history, which describe and evaluate six to 12 books on the topic. Each entry is divided between events, individuals and broader themes and offers guidance on works, ranging from broad surveys to specialized monographs.

In this classic short introduction to one of the most important and controversial topics in American history, Peter J Parish investigates slavery from political, economic and social perspectives. He explains the paradox upon which slavery rested: its guiding principle was that slaves were property, but its everyday practice demonstrated the impossibility of denying the slave's humanity. He takes the reader through the origin of the Slave system in the South, outlines the controversies surrounding the economics of slavery and asks what life for slaves was really like. This is the perfect...