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Escott, Paul D.
The Worst Passions of Human Nature
White Supremacy in the Civil War North
The American North’s commitment to preventing a southern secession rooted in slaveholding suggests a society united in its opposition to slavery and racial inequality. The reality, however, was far more complex and troubling. In his latest book, Paul Escott lays bare the contrast between progress... More
Lincoln's Dilemma
Blair, Sumner, and the Republican Struggle over Racism and Equality in the Civil War Era
The Civil War forced America finally to confront the contradiction between its founding values and human slavery. At the center of this historic confrontation was Abraham Lincoln. By the time this Illinois politician had risen to the office of president, the dilemma of slavery had expanded to the... More
"What Shall We Do with the Negro?"
Lincoln, White Racism, and Civil War America
Throughout the Civil War, newspaper headlines and stories repeatedly asked some variation of the question posed by the New York Times in 1862, "What shall we do with the negro?" The future status of African Americans was a pressing issue for those in both the North and in the South. Consulting a... More
