We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861

Abstract

The sesquicentennial of the American Civil War has produced a new wave of scholarship on the origins of the conflict. In We Have the War Upon Us, William J. Cooper adds to this literature by examining the five critical months from Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 to the opening shots at Fort Sumter. Rather than concentrating solely on the steps that led inexorably to war, Cooper takes a different tack. Instead, he focuses on why sectional compromise—supported by many in both regions—failed on this occasion when it had repeatedly succeeded in the past. Cooper notes that while Americans today tend to view the secession crisis as a necessary step toward the ultimate preservation of the Union and the destruction of slavery, participants in the conflict did not know of these developments and many strove to prevent the rupture at all costs. To fully understand their worldview, Cooper argues, we must attempt (quoting historian David M. Potter) to “see the past through the imperfect eyes of those who lived it,” rather than with 20–20 hindsight (xiii).