Civil War Issues in Philadelphia, 1856-1865 / / William Dusinberre.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn eBook Package Archive 1898-1999 (pre Pub)
• VerfasserIn: Dusinberre, William,
• Place / Publishing House: Philadelphia : : University of Pennsylvania Press, , [1965]; ©1965
• Year of Publication: 1965
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (200 p.)

Philadelphia, before the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, was not simply a "Northern" city. Unlike proslavery Washington but also unlike antislavery Boston, Philadelphia lay in the "Northern border area," where mixed sympathies led to divided loyalties and to frequent convulsions over the great issues that preceded the war. In Civil War Issues in Philadelphia, 1856-1865, author William Dusinberre examines three traditional interpretations of the war and shows how each has to be modified to fit Philadelphia's experience. In Part I he portrays the fundamental Philadelphia attitudes as they appeared in 1856 and the two main controversies--the fugitive slave question and the territorial issue--as they developed until 1858. Part II is devoted to the John Brown affair and the secession crisis. Part III analyzes wartime issues: the treatment of dissenters, the Negro question, and the recruitment of short-term soldiers when Confederate armies approached Pennsylvania. From this investigation emerges a vivid portrait of the North's second greatest city and its leading citizens--racist sympathizers with the South, cautious conciliators, firm conservatives, unconstrained anti-Southerners, outnumbered idealists--contending with the crisis of the Civil War periods.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgment -- Contents -- Introduction -- Prologue: Philadelphia -- 1. Party Views in 1856 -- 2. Abolitionism and the Fugitive Slave Question -- 3. The Territorial Question and the Democratic Party -- 4. John Brown’s Raid -- 5. Secession -- 6. Dissenters, Slaves, and Volunteers -- 7. Democrats, Negroes, and Conscripts -- 8. Conclusion -- Index