Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War

"This is a lucid, edifying account of the Civil War era. Mr. Hummel has an impressive command of the relevant contemporary literature. His interpretations are thoughtful, often provocative, always well worth considering, Civil War buffs will want this book on their shelves". -- Kenneth M. Stampp University of California, Berkeley

"Hummel presents some uncomfortable truths for both sides of the Civil War. For the South, Hummel builds a case that the war was indeed about slavery. For the North, he shows that a war to preserve the union was morally bankrupt and that freeing the slaves was the only justifiable reason for fighting. Yet Hummel demonstrates that even a war for such a noble cause was probably unnecessary, since slavery was politically doomed in an independent South. Hummel also illustrates some of the cost of the war, such as Lincoln g suppression of political opposition, the closing of dissenting newspapers, and the creation of big government under Republicans Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant". -- Library Journal

"In this insightful treatment of the Civil War (addressing the causes, the war itself and Reconstruction), Hummel's text argues against the thesis that armed confrontation was inevitable. With its insight)d analysis (not to mention the extensive bibliographical essays that elaborate each chapter), Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men will supply both the academic and Civil War buff with an added perspective on the causes and consequences of the Civil War". -- Publishers Weekly

Hummel's criticism of Lincoln for overstepping legitimate presidential powers, and his support of secession as a principle separate from the context of slavery seems to draw violently emotional reactions from people who want to view the war as a black-and-white war of good against evil. I take that as evidence of the high quality of Hummel's research and writing.

Overall, this is an excellent work, and I'd very much like to see more from Hummel along these lines.


How we got today's welfare-warfare state   January 9, 2005
Warren C. Gibson (San Carlos, CA USA)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

These days many of us wonder how it happened that the great ideals of the American Revolution, liberty and self-reliance, were overthrown and replaced by today's gigantic and ravenous welfare-warfare state. It is easy to blame Roosevelt and the New Deal, but many of his monstrous impositions only continued and expanded institutions that arose in the Progressive era earlier in the century. Hummel argues that we must look back farther, to the Civil War, as the beginning of the end of our Revolutionary experiment.

"The Civil War represents the simultaneous culmination and repudiation of the American Revolution," says Hummel. By ending slavery, it settled once and for all the great contradiction that had bedeviled the Republic from its beginning and whose resolution had been forestalled by several shaky Compromises prior to 1860. But while freeing the slaves, the War set the stage for the gradual enslavement of us all. The War legitimized the intrusion of the central government into virtually every aspect of our lives which is so evident today.

Slavery would have ended almost as quickly and at much lower costs in lives, treasure, and liberties, had the South been allowed to go peacefully, says Hummel. This is not because slavery was uneconomical -- it wasn't -- but because enforcement costs would have overwhelmed what Hummel calls the "peculiar institution." With secession, runaways would no longer have been captured and returned to the South. It would have been impossible for the Confederacy to effectively guard its long border. This would have virtually ended slavery in the border states of the South and eventually in the entire Confederacy.

Though Hummel's radical libertarian views will put off many
historians, they cannot ignore his careful scholarship and especially his extensive bibliographic essays. This is a seminal book that deserves careful study and follow-up.


A great book for students of the Civil War   August 11, 2000
Shawn Smith (Cumberland Gap, TN United States)
38 out of 42 found this review helpful

Hummel does a fantastic job of describing the important aspects of the Civil War. He covers topics relating to military, social, and economic issues, which allows the reader to develop a full understanding of the various aspects of the war without having to read a book that is several thousand pages long. I found chapter 9 to be extremely helpful because it talks about the economic aspects of both the Southern and Northern economies. What really sets this book apart from the countless Civil War books that come out every month are the bibliographical essays at the end of each chapter. They help the reader gain a better understanding by examining different topics that go along with each chapter, and by suggesting and discussing different books the reader may want to examine. This is truly an impressive work on Civil War history and any history buff will enjoy it.


Superb, insightful analysis of the American Civil War.   October 23, 1998
Dr. Jeffrey L. Wissot (wissot@dentistry.com) (SoCal, USA)
25 out of 29 found this review helpful

Within the framework of history, Jeff Hummel provides the mostinnovative analysis of the ACW I have yet to encounter. This work isthe American equivalent of Quo Vadis, an in depth understanding of the growth of the American federal government, exploding from the onset of the Civil War. The detailed bibliography concluding each chapter is an encyclopedia of its own.

A must read for ACW buffs and historians.

Jeffrey L. Wissot, DDS