What They Fought For James Mcpherson Summary

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“What They Fought For 1861-1865,” is a book written by James M. McPherson. In this writing, McPherson goes into detail in describing what motivated soldiers who were in the Union and Confederate sides to volunteer in the Civil War. Soldiers wrote personal letters and diaries in where they would write and share about what they believed they were fighting for during this time. McPherson explains how the Confederate army felt about the war, how the Union army felt about the war, and how slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. In chapter one, McPherson describes how the Confederate army felt about the war. For example, “a young Virginia officer” compared the Civil War to “England’s war upon the colonies,” which was the Revolutionary War (page 9). The Confederate army saw the Union as people who were trying to set “bonds of tyranny” over …show more content…
The North side, which were the Confederates wanted to abolish slavery because it went against the rights of everyone as stated in the Constitution. The South side, which was the Union wanted to keep slavery. A Confederate soldier once wrote, “I never want to see the day when a negro is put on an equality with a white person” (page 52). The Confederates would dehumanize blacks. The president during this time, Abraham Lincoln knew that the only way that this war was to end and unite the nation was by ending slavery completely. Lincoln wanted to give “all the rights and privileges as American citizens” to the slaves (page 53). A Confederate once wrote, “I did not volunteer my services to fight for a free negroes country but to fight for a free white mans free country…” (page 55). The South did not like the idea at all of blacks being freed, which caused tensions with the North. The North fought for “human rights and human liberty” of slaves (page 62). McPherson describes how slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War in chapter
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