Civil War in the Making, 1815-1860

Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History

by Avery Odelle Craven

"American scholarship is richer for this unique exercise. More important-the great community, . . . once again sorely beset by unsettled problems of sectional rivalry and world tension, can read this book with great profit. Too few historians put their talents at the disposal of society so effectively." -American Historical Review

"A brilliant, straightforward summary of the background of America's favorite armchair war. So deceptively simple is [Craven's] exposition that the solid worth of the book sneaks up on the reader when, having finished it, he realizes that the brief volume may be short on detail but is complete as a well-considered, authoritative statement of history." -Chicago Tribune "Never has he-or anyone else-analyzed the growing sectional conflict in more grapihc or understandable terms than in the present volume." -Civil War History

The content of the book was originally delivered as part of the Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History. Avery O. Craven was one of our most distinguished historians of the South and taught for many years at the University of Chicago. He was the author of many books, including The Growth of Southern Nationalism, 1848-1861 (Volume VI of A History of the South), and Edmund Ruffin, Southerner.

Genres: History, Civil War, American Civil War

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1968

About the author

Avery O. Craven earned his B.A. from Simpson College in 1908, his M.A. from Harvard University in 1914, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1923. Craven taught at Simpson College, Michigan State University, and the University of Illinois before joining the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1927. He served as president of the Organization of Southern Historians in 1952, as president of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society and of the Organization of American Historians in 1963–1964.

Reviews

[Will]

Craven sympathizes with conservative Southrners in the pre-Civil War era, finding their desire to maintain the status quo to be a rational, measured approach. He equated the morals of those who wished to abolish slavery with the morals of those who wished to continue enslaving human beings. The factual history included in this volume is obscured by his desire to make a demon of John Brown, while excusing the actions of slaveholders.

[Fredrick Danysh]

Exaimes political, economic, and social conditions that led to the Civil War. Each region was like a seperate nation. Good foundation material to help understand why the war happened and why it was so brutal.