Böcker av Jonathan W. White

A Critically Acclaimed Work of Presidential and African American History Widely praised and winner of the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, this book illuminates why Lincoln¿s unprecedented welcoming of African American men and women to the White House transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. From his 1862 meetings with Black Christian ministers, Lincoln began inviting African Americans of every background into his home, from ex-slaves from the Deep South to champions of abolitionism such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. More than a good-will gesture, the president conferred with his guests about the essential issues of citizenship and voting rights. Drawing from an array of primary sources, White reveals how African Americans used the White House as a national stage to amplify their calls for equality. Even more than 160 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln¿s inclusion of African Americans remains a necessary example in a country still struggling from racial divisions today.

The Union army's overwhelming vote for Abraham Lincoln's reelection in 1864 has led many scholars to conclude that the soldiers supported the Republican Party and its effort to abolish slavery. Jonathan White challenges this paradigm, arguing that the soldier vote is not a reliable index of the army's ideological motivation or political sentiment.

In the spring of 1861, Union military authorities arrested Maryland farmer John Merryman on charges of treason for burning railroad bridges around Baltimore to prevent northern soldiers from reaching the capital. Jonathan White reveals how the prosecution of this Baltimore farmer had a lasting impact on the Lincoln administration and Congress.

The forgotten but essential story of how President Lincoln welcomed African Americans to his White House in our nation¿s most divided and war-torn era. Jonathan White illuminates why Lincoln¿s then-unprecedented welcome of African Americans to the White House transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. From his 1862 meetings with Black Christian ministers, Lincoln began inviting African Americans of every background to his home, from ex-slaves from the Deep South to champions of abolitionism such as Frederick Douglass. More than a good-will gesture, the president would confer with his guests about the essential issues of citizenship and voting rights. Drawing from an array of primary sources, White reveals how Lincoln used the White House as the stage to amplify African American voices. Even 155 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln¿s inclusion of African Americans remains a necessary example in a country still struggling from racial divisions today.

In this innovative new study, Jonathan W. White explores what dreams meant to Civil War-era Americans and what their dreams reveal about their experiences during the war. He shows how Americans grappled with their fears, desires, and struggles while they slept, and how their dreams helped them make sense of the confusion, despair, and loneliness that engulfed them.