”Drawn With the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War” by McPherson Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

James M. McPherson is a historian who wrote several fundamental works on the topic of the American Civil War. In his book Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War, he examines the lost-cause myth and provides evidence to validate his argument in regards to it. The purpose of this paper is to review the second and fifth essay chapters critically and analyze how they relate to the overall concept of the narration.

Background

The reviewed book consists of essays that have been published in the scientific press for several years, and they were compiled to reflect the broadest topics connected to the American Civil War.¹ In particular, the writing disproves old myths and questions new conclusions about the causes of the war. It also deconstructs assumptions made about the battles that took place and the consequences of the war for the United States and the world in general.

Discussion

The second chapter, “The War and American Society,” offers an interesting perspective on the war on the home front. Importantly, it destroys aspects of the lost-cause myth and provides insights into the anti-war movement in the Union. As the author puts it, “democratic leaders had been telling their Irish-American constituents that the wicked Black Republicans were waging war to free the slaves who would come north and take away the jobs of Irish workers.”² Through the use of such instances, the author illustrates the way the Irish become susceptible to accepting demagogic rhetoric.

Interestingly, the author provides a thorough analysis of the literature in which he discusses the reasons for the defeat of the Confederates. The historian examines the conclusions drawn by other scientists and identifies errors and inaccuracies made by them. Particular emphasis is made on such factors as the advantage of the northerners in armaments and their ability to demoralize the will of the opposing party.³ It is crucial that the actions taken by the leaders of the Confederate are regarded as a less important factor. The essay also considers the spectrum of different causes of the civil war that were not mentioned earlier and discussed such important aspects as who freed the slaves and what role slavery had played in the initiation of war.

The last section of the book, “What’s the Matter with History,” is also of particular interest to the reader. In this part of the writing, the author mentions another historian who published an essay on the same topic in 1939. Based on this discussion, the author criticizes colleagues for not responding actively to film production, in which the prehistory and history of the civil war were distorted openly.⁴ The writer believes that professional scientists emphasize the insignificant aspects of history and ignore important details. Moreover, the author expresses a critical opinion that most movies are made according to scenarios written by amateur historians, which leads to a distortion of facts and misconceptions spread among society members.

However, it should be noted that the book lacks accurate descriptions of military operations. The author cites the general background of military operations and discusses in detail the internal and external problems of the United States before and during the war.⁵ In some parts of the narration, the writer redundantly describes the relationship of the main participants in the war and examines the setting in the United States.⁶ His overall goal was to show the picture from the point of view of two parallel worlds – the North and the South. It may be assumed that the narration could have been improved through detailed descriptions of military operations. Nevertheless, an evident advantage of the book lies in the fact that it carries out a detailed analysis of events confirmed by a multitude of testimonies and exhaustive evidence. In addition, it is a credible source of information that attempts to satisfy the interest of Americans in the history of their country. The author has made a significant contribution to its objective coverage in order to dispel the existing myths.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that the reviewed selections by James McPherson offer an insightful discussion of the causes and roots of the American Civil War. Also, the writing dispels certain myths related to this important part of US history and provides the reader with the evidence necessary for understanding the setting in the country at that time. Although the narration could be improved through the use of accurate descriptions of military operations, it does remain an exhaustive source of information for the reader.

Bibliography

Desjardin, Thomas A. “Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War.” Journal of American History 84, no. 1 (June 1997): 240-241.

McPherson, James M. Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Noe, Kenneth W. “Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War.” The Historian 60, no. 2 (Winter 1998): 394-395.

Turner, Thomas R. “Reviewed Work: Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War by James M. McPherson.” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 18, no. 2 (Summer 1997): 47-54.

Footnotes

1. Thomas A. Desjardin, “Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War,” Journal of American History 84, no. 1 (June 1997): 240.
2. James M. McPherson, Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 92.
3. McPherson, Drawn with the Sword, 85.
4. McPherson, 232.
5. Thomas R. Turner, “Reviewed Work: Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War by James M. McPherson,” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 18, no. 2 (Summer 1997): 47.
6. Kenneth W. Noe, “Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War,” The Historian 60, no. 2 (Winter 1998): 394.