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How the South Won the Civil War

Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America

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How the South Won the Civil War

By: Heather Cox Richardson
Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
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About this listen

While the North prevailed in the Civil War, ending slavery and giving the country a "new birth of freedom," Heather Cox Richardson argues in this provocative work that democracy's blood-soaked victory was ephemeral. The system that had sustained the defeated South moved westward and there established a foothold. It was a natural fit. Settlers from the East had for decades been pushing into the West, where the seizure of Mexican lands at the end of the Mexican-American War and treatment of Native Americans cemented racial hierarchies. The South and West equally depended on extractive industries - cotton in the former and mining, cattle, and oil in the latter - giving rise a new birth of white male oligarchy, despite the guarantees provided by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and the economic opportunities afforded by expansion.

To reveal why this happened, How the South Won the Civil War traces the story of the American paradox, the competing claims of equality and subordination woven into the nation's fabric and identity. At the nation's founding, it was the Eastern "yeoman farmer" who galvanized and symbolized the American Revolution. After the Civil War, that mantle was assumed by the Western cowboy, singlehandedly defending his land against barbarians and savages as well as from a rapacious government. New states entered the Union in the late nineteenth century and western and southern leaders found yet more common ground. As resources and people streamed into the West during the New Deal and World War II, the region's influence grew. "Movement Conservatives," led by westerners Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, claimed to embody cowboy individualism and worked with Dixiecrats to embrace the ideology of the Confederacy.

Richardson's searing book seizes upon the soul of the country and its ongoing struggle to provide equal opportunity to all. Debunking the myth that the Civil War released the nation from the grip of oligarchy, expunging the sins of the Founding, it reveals how and why the Old South not only survived in the West, but thrived.

©2020 by Heather Cox Richardson. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Military Political Science Politics & Government Racism & Discrimination War Civil War United States Equality American History English Civil War

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Excellent, highly recommended

The American paradox Richardson describes so well is hard to comprehend; a white male elite convinced citizens that extending the franchise would make them and every other white God fearing American poorer. But just look at the demagogue who lost an election and was still nonetheless able to convince a plurality of citizens they were robbed. The book took me back to my childhood where I swam in a beautiful pool in lovely surroundings in Rock Island Illinois during the 50’s and 60’s. Much to my shame I couldn’t remember a single black person. It made me feel sad because black families lived just two blocks away from us. Where did those black children swim? Books like this remind us just what our future will be if we allow ourselves to be deceived by the big lie that if my neighbour succeeds I will inevitably fall behind. See Richardson’s Ted Talk, it’s a great synopsis. Highly recommend the book.
Dawson Ruhl

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Packed full of historical events

This book is an amazing collection of events and little known connections between events that follow the thread of oligarchs and their influence on politics and society.
So many bits of data it is easy to get lost and in the multiple timelines and threads.
Could have done with a bit more analysis and commentary to make more sense of all the detail, but perhaps the author just wanted to avoid opinion.

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