Offering comprehensive coverage for those examining Civil War propaganda, this volume provides a broad analysis of efforts by both Union and Confederate sides to influence public opinion of America’s deadliest conflict.
This illuminating reference work contains excerpts from roughly 100 individual pieces of propaganda generated during the American Civil War in the North and the South, as well as contextual analysis to assist readers in understanding its utility, importance, and effect. It includes written arguments, staged photographs, and political cartoons, all of which were used to advance one side’s objectives while undermining the enemy’s. This helps readers to understand the underlying arguments of each side as well as the willingness of each to distort the truth for political, military, or economic advantage.
This book is organized chronologically, allowing readers to understand how propaganda developed and expanded throughout the war. It includes a chapter dedicated to each of the war years (1861-1865), an antebellum chapter, and a postwar chapter. Each document comprised in the volume includes an analysis of the significance and effectiveness of the piece and guides readers to examine it with a critical eye. The original source documents remain in their original verbiage, including common spelling errors and other interesting aspects of 19th-century communication.
Provides the original sources for Civil War propaganda for examination, enabling readers to conduct their own analyses of the materials under discussion
Offers a wide variety of types of materials, from written to visual formats, demonstrating the broad selection of propaganda items generated in the war
Demonstrates the importance of influence operations in the bloodiest war in American history
Balances the competing perspectives between Union and Confederate partisans, including abolitionists and slaveholders
