Overview

A Press Divided provides new insights regarding the sharp political divisions that existed among the newspapers of the Civil War era. These newspapers were divided between North and South, and also divided within the North and South. These divisions reflected and exacerbated the conflicts in political thought that caused the Civil War and the political and ideological battles within the Union and the Confederacy about how to pursue the war. In the North, dissenting voices alarmed the Lincoln administration to such a degree that draconian measures were taken to suppress dissenting newspapers and editors, while in the South, the Confederate government held to its fundamental belief in freedom of speech and was more tolerant of political attacks in the press. This volume consists of eighteen chapters on subjects including newspaper coverage of the rise of Lincoln, press reports on George Armstrong Custer, Confederate women war correspondents, Civil War photojournalists, newspaper coverage of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the suppression of the dissident press. This book tells the story of a divided press before and during the Civil War, discussing the roles played by newspapers in splitting the nation, newspaper coverage of the war, and the responses by the Union and Confederate administrations to press criticism.

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9781412854665

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Reviews

A Press Divided represents an important and impressive addition to the literature about the Civil War and newspaper reporting of the conflict. It includes well-researched contributions by some of the leading experts on the press of the Civil War era, as well as insightful chapters by emerging scholars in the field. The volume is skillfully edited and well-organized. It's a must for scholars of the era. --W. Joseph Campbell, professor, American University This book's purpose is not to offer a comprehensive analysis of the American press or Civil War era. Nevertheless, it uniquely accentuates the complex political climate permeating the nation. Following a strong introduction, 18 well-wrought analyses by 14 authors unearth much history long obscured in generalities while suggesting a seemingly insurmountable, pervasive divisiveness. The sheer variety and range of contentious opinions, issues, and events in every area treated will startle many readers. Problems besetting seven states discussed, for example, and multiple divisions in government (especially in the South, where top leaders espoused divergent ideologies) raise anew questions about how a viable union survived. The book underscores the continuing value of this era as a site for study of a nation in crisis, as well as for study of solutions and of the human condition. --Hazel Dicken-Garcia, professor emerita, University of Minnesota David B. Sachsman and his band of journalism historians have done it again! A Press Divided: Newspaper Coverage of the Civil War goes deep into the causes of the conflict, the coverage of it, and the interplay of news and politics. Once again, Sachsman has produced an important and monumental work that captures the climate and complexities of the era. From a revealing chapter on civil war photographers to other fine ones on northern and southern journalism, women, Civil War law, and other topics, the book is an important contribution to the field as well as a g

Author Information

David B. Sachsman is a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA, where he holds the George R. West, Jr. Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs. His books include Sensationalism and The Civil War and the Press.

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