Continent in Crisis: The U.S. Civil War in North America

This book explores the continental dimensions of the U.S. Civil War, focusing on North America, particularly Mexico, British Canada, and sovereign indigenous states in the West. It shows how battles over sovereignty in neighboring states became enmeshed with the fratricidal conflict in the United States, highlighting the uncertainty of the period when the fate of old nations and possibilities for new ones were up for grabs.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 16 December 2022
Publisher: Fordham University Press

This book, written by renowned historians of the mid-nineteenth century United States, delves into the continental aspects of the U.S. Civil War. It contributes to a growing body of scholarship that aims to comprehend the significance of the mid-nineteenth-century crisis in the broader context of world history. Unlike other studies that have explored the connections of the Civil War with Europe and the Caribbean, this volume specifically focuses on North America, encompassing Mexico, British Canada, and sovereign indigenous states in the West.

As the United States grappled with its Civil War and Reconstruction, Mexico faced its own civil war and then embarked on a four-year campaign to overthrow a French-imposed monarch. Meanwhile, Britain's North American colonies underwent complex and contentious negotiations, culminating in the formation of the Confederation in 1867. In the West, indigenous nations encountered an influx of settlers and soldiers who sought to seize their lands for the United States. Despite this simultaneous occurrence, mainstream histories of the Civil War often overlook its connections to the political upheaval unfolding elsewhere in North America. By incorporating North America into the study of the Civil War, this volume reveals how battles over sovereignty in neighboring states intertwined with the fratricidal conflict in the United States. Its contributors explore these interconnected histories through a range of studies, such as African Americans fleeing U.S. slavery by emigrating to Mexico and Confederate privateers finding allies in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This continental perspective underscores the ambiguity of the period when the fate of old nations and the potential for new ones were truly at stake.

Weight: 404g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781531501297