Gary Gallagher

American Civil War historian and author; emeritus John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia and prior director of its John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History.

Slavery Caused Secession, but Union Sustained the Civil War

Civil War historian Gary Gallagher argues that slavery caused secession and thus the war, even though most Union soldiers enlisted primarily to preserve the United States rather than to abolish slavery. In his account, the conflict was not inevitable: decisions over Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for troops brought the Upper South into the Confederacy, while the war’s unexpected scale turned emancipation into a military necessity. Gallagher also contends that Union victory depended on breaking Confederate hopes of exhausting Northern political will, a task Atlanta in 1864 accomplished more decisively than Gettysburg.

Lex FridmanJul 28, 202619 min read