
The Northern Home Front During the Civil War
Fordham University Press
Published on 21. February 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
262 pages
978-1-5315-0193-8 (ISBN)
Description
With a new preface and updated historiographical essay.
Based on recent scholarship and deep research in primary sources, especially the letters and diaries of "ordinary people," The Northern Home Front during the Civil War is the first full narrative history and analysis of the northern home front in almost a quarter-century. It examines the mobilization, recruitment, management, politics, costs, and experience of war from the perspective of the home front, with special attention to the ways the war affected the ideas, identities, interests, and issues shaping people's lives, and vice versa. The book looks closely at people's responses to war's demands, whether in supporting the Union cause or opposing it, and it measures the ways the war transformed society and economy or simply reconfirmed ideas and reinforced practices already underway. As The Northern Home Front during the Civil War reveals, issues and concerns of emancipation, conscription, civil liberties, economic policies and practices, religion, party politics, war management, popular culture, and work were all part of what Lincoln rightly termed "a People's Contest" and as much as the armies in the field determined the outcome of the nation's ordeal by fire. As The Northern Home Front during the Civil War shows, understanding the experience of the women and men on the home front is essential to realizing Walt Whitman's oft-quoted call to get "the real war" into the books.
Based on recent scholarship and deep research in primary sources, especially the letters and diaries of "ordinary people," The Northern Home Front during the Civil War is the first full narrative history and analysis of the northern home front in almost a quarter-century. It examines the mobilization, recruitment, management, politics, costs, and experience of war from the perspective of the home front, with special attention to the ways the war affected the ideas, identities, interests, and issues shaping people's lives, and vice versa. The book looks closely at people's responses to war's demands, whether in supporting the Union cause or opposing it, and it measures the ways the war transformed society and economy or simply reconfirmed ideas and reinforced practices already underway. As The Northern Home Front during the Civil War reveals, issues and concerns of emancipation, conscription, civil liberties, economic policies and practices, religion, party politics, war management, popular culture, and work were all part of what Lincoln rightly termed "a People's Contest" and as much as the armies in the field determined the outcome of the nation's ordeal by fire. As The Northern Home Front during the Civil War shows, understanding the experience of the women and men on the home front is essential to realizing Walt Whitman's oft-quoted call to get "the real war" into the books.
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
19 b/w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
422 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5315-0193-8 (9781531501938)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Paul A. Cimbala | Randall M. Miller
The Northern Home Front During the Civil War
E-Book
02/2023
Fordham University Press
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Paul A. Cimbala (Author)
Paul A. Cimbala is Professor Emeritus of History at Fordham University, The Bronx, New York. His published works include Under the Guardianship of the Nation: The Freedmen's Bureau and the Reconstruction of Georgia, 1865-1870 and Veterans North and South: The Transition from Soldier to Civilian after the American Civil War. With Randall M. Miller, he has edited several essay collections dealing with the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Randall M. Miller (Author)
Randall M. Miller is Professor Emeritus of History at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia. He is the author or editor of numerous books on a variety of subjects, including the Civil War, Reconstruction, slavery, religion, and politics. Among his Civil War-related books are, as co-editor, Religion and the American Civil War; The Birth of the Grand Old Party: The Republicans' First Generation; and Women and the American Civil War: North-South Counterpoints.
Paul A. Cimbala is Professor Emeritus of History at Fordham University, The Bronx, New York. His published works include Under the Guardianship of the Nation: The Freedmen's Bureau and the Reconstruction of Georgia, 1865-1870 and Veterans North and South: The Transition from Soldier to Civilian after the American Civil War. With Randall M. Miller, he has edited several essay collections dealing with the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Randall M. Miller (Author)
Randall M. Miller is Professor Emeritus of History at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia. He is the author or editor of numerous books on a variety of subjects, including the Civil War, Reconstruction, slavery, religion, and politics. Among his Civil War-related books are, as co-editor, Religion and the American Civil War; The Birth of the Grand Old Party: The Republicans' First Generation; and Women and the American Civil War: North-South Counterpoints.
Content
Preface to the Fordham University Press Edition ix
Introduction xv
Chapter One: Communities on the Verge of War 1
Chapter Two: The Secession Crisis 13
Chapter Three: Fort Sumter and the Patriotic Response 23
Chapter Four: Rallying to the Colors 33
Chapter Five: Soldiers and Civilians as Neighbors 43
Chapter Six: Incomplete Families 53
Chapter Seven: Pastimes with Purpose 67
Chapter Eight: Knowing War 79
Chapter Nine: Paying for the War 91
Chapter Ten: Producing for the War 105
Chapter Eleven: Politics and Dissent 119
Chapter Twelve: Emancipation, Conscription, and Dissent 133
Chapter Thirteen: Th e Transition from War to Peace 147
Notes 161
Bibliographic Essay 215
Index 231
A photo essay follows p. 118.
Introduction xv
Chapter One: Communities on the Verge of War 1
Chapter Two: The Secession Crisis 13
Chapter Three: Fort Sumter and the Patriotic Response 23
Chapter Four: Rallying to the Colors 33
Chapter Five: Soldiers and Civilians as Neighbors 43
Chapter Six: Incomplete Families 53
Chapter Seven: Pastimes with Purpose 67
Chapter Eight: Knowing War 79
Chapter Nine: Paying for the War 91
Chapter Ten: Producing for the War 105
Chapter Eleven: Politics and Dissent 119
Chapter Twelve: Emancipation, Conscription, and Dissent 133
Chapter Thirteen: Th e Transition from War to Peace 147
Notes 161
Bibliographic Essay 215
Index 231
A photo essay follows p. 118.