How the South Won the Civil War

Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America

By: Heather Cox Richardson

Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson

While the North prevailed in the Civil War, ending slavery and giving the country a "new birth of freedom," Heather Cox Richardson argues in this provocative work that democracy's blood-soaked victory was ephemeral. The system that had sustained the defeated South moved westward and there established a foothold. It was a natural fit. Settlers from the East had for decades been pushing into the West, where the seizure of Mexican lands at the end of the Mexican-American War and treatment of Native Americans cemented racial hierarchies. The South and West equally depended on extractive industries - cotton in the former and mining, cattle, and oil in the latter - giving rise a new birth of white male oligarchy, despite the guarantees provided by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and the economic opportunities afforded by expansion.

To reveal why this happened, How the South Won the Civil War traces the story of the American paradox, the competing claims of equality and subordination woven into the nation's fabric and identity. At the nation's founding, it was the Eastern "yeoman farmer" who galvanized and symbolized the American Revolution. After the Civil War, that mantle was assumed by the Western cowboy, singlehandedly defending his land against barbarians and savages as well as from a rapacious government. New states entered the Union in the late nineteenth century and western and southern leaders found yet more common ground. As resources and people streamed into the West during the New Deal and World War II, the region's influence grew. "Movement Conservatives," led by westerners Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, claimed to embody cowboy individualism and worked with Dixiecrats to embrace the ideology of the Confederacy.

Richardson's searing book seizes upon the soul of the country and its ongoing struggle to provide equal opportunity to all. Debunking the myth that the Civil War released the nation from the grip of oligarchy, expunging the sins of the Founding, it reveals how and why the Old South not only survived in the West, but thrived.

©2020 by Heather Cox Richardson. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Essential Reading

Heather Cox Richardson tackles the American Paradox and the result is a clear narrative of how we reached the present moment. I read a lot of history and there were still many dots in this book I’ve never seen connected before. Fascinating, depressing, hopeful, and timely.

Great overview of America History

As someone who’s read extensively about the failure of the Reconstruction I knew much of this information but it was presented so well and chronologically. It would be great for all Americans to give it a listen! I also love it when the author reads their own work.

Brilliant

Heather Cox Richardson’s book is a masterclAss in American history. She uses a clever narrative frame to make an urgent argument about American democracy, and its fragility.

A must read if you believe in Democracy

as I said in my title for this review oh, this is a must read / listen to any American who believes in our democracy.

A must read for all highschool and students!

civics education in the United States is horrible this book could help re-educate the population of the United States so that they could vote as well informed electorate for nearly all elections.

Same arguments since the founding

When I first saw Hamilton, I joked that we were still fighting the same battle today that Hamilton and Jefferson fought when this nation was new. Turns out it wasn't a joke. While the obvious causes have changed from the morality and legality of slavery to the morality and legality of regulating business, the underlying arguments remain unchanged. Awesomely researched and presented book.

Love HCR

Only thing that made this book better than it already was, was Heather reading her own work. Makes all the difference in the world with her vocal punctuations and emphasis added in.

So relevant to now…

I am a big fan of HCR. This title is intriguing. But as she walks us through the period following the Civil War nearly up to today (book is two years old), we see the through line. History matters and is important so that we can better understand the times we live in now.

Wonderful!!

Wonderfully presented history that sadly, many Americans are unaware of. Heather Cox Richardson does a remarkable job knitting together the past and the present. Thank you!

Preciently Brilliant

Listening to this as thugs invade the US Capitol: our story continues. Impeach the tyrant.