James McPherson Interview: Uncovering the Complexity of America's Great Emancipator

Historian James McPherson says Abraham Lincoln was faced with division of opinion and of authority within his own presidential administration early on. He explains how Lincoln's whole life had been one of self-education, which he applied to his role as Commander in Chief. McPherson details how the three day Battle of Gettysburg was a major turning point in the American Civil War.
James McPherson received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He is the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor of American History emeritus at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1962. McPherson’s works mostly focus on the American Civil War and Reconstruction, including Battle Cry of Freedom, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1989, and For Cause and Comrades, which won the Lincoln Prize in 1998. In addition to serving as president of the American Historical Association, he has been president of Protect Historic America and the Society of American Historians. In 2007, he was awarded the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military history and was the first recipient of the prize. In 2007, he was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement in military history given by the Society for Military History. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009. Also in 2009, he was the co-winner of the Lincoln Prize for Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief.
The Apple TV+ series "Lincoln's Dilemma," features insights from journalists, educators and scholars, as well as rare archival materials, that offer a more nuanced look into the life of the Great Emancipator. Set against the background of the Civil War, "Lincoln's Dilemma" also gives voice to the narratives of enslaved people, shaping a more complete view of an America divided over issues including economy, race and humanity, and underscoring Lincoln's battle to save the country, no matter the cost. The series is narrated by award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright ("Angels in America") and features the voices of actor Bill Camp ("The Night Of") as Lincoln and Leslie Odom Jr. ("Hamilton") as Frederick Douglas.
To view the entire series please visit:
tv.apple.com/us/show/lincolns...
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: www.lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: / @lifestoriesinterviewa...
Follow us on Instagram: / lifestoriesinterviews
James McPherson, Historian
Interview Date: December 10, 2020
Interviewed by: Jackie Olive and Barak Goodman
© Apple Video Programming, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
#JamesMcPherson #kunhardtfilmfoundation

[@bmdecker93]

Stop and listen. James MacPherson is a national treasure and an expert on our greatest struggle.

[@josephel4292]

One of the treasures in my book collection is an autographed copy of Mr McPherson's Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution presented to me as gift from a good friend. I treasure that book.

[@randywalsh8383]

Fabulous format with a truly great historian. Talking to, not at the audience.

[@FollowEman]

Thank you Mr. JM!

[@DanielHettenbach1]

Excellent interview

[@executivedirector7467]

The US Army was always called 'The US Army". It didn't change names to "Union army".

[@jeffmilroy9345]

There are a whole bunch of west point grads who disagreed. One of them was Lee.

[@davidbowman4259]

Loved his book "Battle Cry of Freedom."

[@sup8857]

I always love to hear Guelzo, Gallagher and McPherson.

[@bobtaylor170]

If you don't know H.W. Brands, you have a real find in store for you. He's not a Civil War specialist, though he has written at least one book on Grant. He teaches history at UT - Austin, and has a lot of videos here on KZbin.

[@kimmartin6160]

And Blitzen and Rudolph

[@TM-vq1bf]

Gordon rhea is great too

[@jasonskaggs5538]

Awesome

[@swapanghosh9867]

I may be wrong but I maybe right Is this from Regan files? Very helpfull.. I think so.

[@wilfredtackie3472]

At least he was prepared to learn unlike someone 😢

[@JiminPalmSprings]

This is a great look back at the Civil War… The nation did miss an opportunity to redress the wrongs committed by the south… We needed to have some kind of trial of its leaders… Some kind of post WW2 Nuremberg style trials ..we needed to bring southern Traitors to justice… So we didn’t have the rise of the Jim Crow south, and the wide scale, southern lynchings of Black people after the Civil War… We failed in that the south needed to know that they were criminals who did wrong, and they never learned that lesson

[@Ruebennowell]

That wasn’t Grant or Lincoln’s thoughts on the matter. They were honorable in their dealings with the former confederates. As a matter of fact, even the common soldiers on both sides even though they warred against each other they treated each other with great respect and that continued to the day they died. Also, after the war, there were radicals in congress that wanted to bring General Lee to trial and Grant had a fit because he considered Lee and all of his troops free men as soon as they surrendered. In other words, the actual men that actually fought in the war took a vastly different view than those people that didn’t pick up a gun or were even alive at that time. Most of the actual soldiers DID NOT consider it treason

[@Ruebennowell]

And the people that scream “TREASON TREASON TREASON!” Have no idea what it actually means and just want to vilify honorable men. The democrats (who started the whole thing to begin with) see this and for votes, power and money acquiescence to the demands of their voters. Make no mistake about it, they’ve changed their tune on race but they’ve not changed their views on African Americans they still consider them “second class citizens” even though they now vote democrat. They just decided in the late 60s (LBJ) decided to use them. Just a different form of slavery. A tactic they’ve been using since 1865

[@matthew-jy5jp]

Buddy you completely missed the point . 'm not sure if there's something in the water where you live or it's just you. So you think after all the blood and the lives lost the best thing to do with kill more people. You should honestly think before you speak. And you seem to have forgotten slavery was started under the United States government and not the confederate. So why you're blaming everybody else you should point a little blame back at yourselves and all the border states who said that was okay. The problem In this country is not enough Americans have a real understanding of the huge catastrophe and tragedy that was the civil war. It was a failure to compromise. An slavery was always a problem right from the beginning. But because it wasn't shrined into our founding documents it was pretty hard for anybody to do But because it wasn't shrined into our founding documents it was pretty hard for anybody to do anything against until there was something called the confederate governmentanything. It was only through the southern states secing from the union that Lincoln could legally attack slavery. Jim crow and segregation didn't happen because the self didn't pay enough for what they chose to do. It happened because no matter how many laws you implement you cannot change someone's heart. And as far as the confederate flag goes that has also been hijacked. That flag never represented the confederate. It represented the army of northern Virginia as a battle flag. As many things that you think the south never learned a lesson for The north is just as guilty of. Why don't we talk Why don't we talk about how after the civil war all those union soldiers went down to kill all the Indians. History is to be learned from not have lessons talk to you out of spite and misunderstandings. Stop saying things like you said it's ignorant and it doesn't help. You should encourage people to have a better understanding of this huge catastrophe of the civil war. And no matter what you think of people who lived 180 years ago unless you view them to the context of the time and which they lived you're the 1 that's the jerk off. 😁 And as much as you made look down on the confederate never forget my friend they were all Americans killing Americans in massive numbers and in people's backyards and peach orchards. And out of it The country we live in today because of many we are 1

[@RandallMeals]

If your vindictive approach was taken the war would not have ended and the south would have turned to never-ending gorilla warfare. The two sides would never had become one country again. Fortunately wise men such as Lincoln knew all this.

[@Charleybones]

The post civil war reconstruction failed because Lincoln was killed, and as president he was no longer there as the national leader to create and implement a cohesive policy that would make sure the postwar good ole boy network of local politicians and plantation owners were not able to continue a different version of slavery that was more subtle for many decades after the war. Lincoln would never have allowed the south to implement crop sharing policies with freed slaves that essentially put them right back into perpetual sevitude to white landowners, nor would Lincoln have allowed voting rights for ex slaves to be encumbered by fees to vote, awkward locations to vote, awkward times, and unfair qualifications to vote. Lastly, lincoln would have continyedto maintain a large military presence in the south to protect and oversee the integration of blacks into society, rather than pack up and walk away, which is exactly what Johnson did once he replaced Lincoln as president. Lincoln was never given the chance to finish dealing with the cancer that had taken hold of the country. Instead it took another hundred years until Kengefy and Lyndon Johnson could pass and enforce real laws protected the decendants of african americans to vecome fully integrated in American society.

[@CMFelos]

The Civil War happened close enough to the revolutionary war, and the Southside itself in the same way as having a disagreement with the North, giving it the right to secede As the American colonies had grievances with Great Britain. Modern culture also doesn’t understand the institution of slavery as existing in all continents. It wasn’t until Great Britain outlawed slavery, and the slave trade that nations began to free their slaves. Well here in America, there was always an Indian slave trade that were on down through Utah into Mexico, even after the Spanish handed off power to the Mexicans. The newly empowered, Mexican state, granted freedom, only to Mexicans, not to the Indians, who had been enslaved. While in the United States savory became associated with the color of one skin, and ended in the Civil War. I think the south was punished for generations, more than people understand. Were they humbled quickly enough no but it’s very difficult to change the way people think when it’s associated with pride and one’s own social standing. It’s been my observation as a historian, that the white people who resisted black being considered equal, would take a few generations to change simply because it was so entrenched in the society. Think of antisemitism in Europe. For hundreds and hundreds of years Jews were persecuted in Europe for nothing other than being Jewish. Very similar mentality..

[@jaysnowden2]

Very well said. The south was punished dearly. All my ancestors lost huge fortunes. Not because of slavery but because of the sanctions imposed on the south during a time when the economy was totally destroyed.

[@4470greg]

So far I’ve read Battle Cry of Freedom, Drawn With the Sword and I’m now onto The War That Forged a Nation. He writes so well. (Posted from Australia)

[@DA-bp8lf]

It just goes to show how pathetic Lincolns Generals were, when he studied only the basics of warfare and knew instantly that the people he put in charge of the army, were incompetent.

[@timwiest4049]

"Uncovering the Complexity of America's Great Emancipator?" Doesn't even begin to. If you are looking for a superficial military survey course on the Civil War as fought in the Virginia theater, this is okay. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

[@alabasterdisaster]

Then carry your a&#. It is possible to have an unexpressed opinion.

[@douglasdelong1526]

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!

[@carywest9256]

My sentiment exactly! DEO VINDICE

[@matthew-jy5jp]

Here's a dummy who really miss the point

[@benthus4259]

Say hi to J W Booth. Scary

[@southernloff1494]

Basic facts, which anyone can learn, are correct. Many personal conclusions are sadly incorrect, and the narration is pathetic.

[@davidmcnamara8024]

As knowledgeable and learned that this guy may be the story is lost because his halting uming awing style between smacking lips distracts.

[@cliffpage7677]

McPherson is a revisionist historian who from the causations of the war, and events at Charleston, to the Surrender, is gross in his sugarcoating of Abraham Lincoln and blatant in his historical ommissions, which distort history and glorify the actions of the United States and the policies of Lincoln. This interpretation, which focuses principally on an outline of the battles and the war in the Eastern theater and not on Lincoln and his political policies, or that of his predecessor, Buchanan, or the Radical Republicans that undermined Lincoln's agenda, and the tyranny of Lincoln and his dictatorial powers is at its core the structure upon which countless other revisionist historians of this period since the 1960s have built their shallow reputations, distorted history and undermined a hundred and fifty years of reconnection with the South.

[@alanaadams7440]

Laws and rules and the President power change during War. Think how close the confederates were to DC

[@JB-wh3we]

Spare me @cliffpage7677 read what Frederick Douglass said about Lincoln after 1865. You're using the same talking points neo-confederates used to smear Lincoln, only you think you're doing so for some enlightened reason.

[@matthew-jy5jp]

And you're a complete nobody who hasn't spend I don't know 30 years researching the subject matter. Go away and grow up. Instead of giving your opinion which no 1 wants to hear why don't you listen? Cause some of you people say the dumbest things. You're an expert on the subject matter but he's the guy that spend his whole life riding about it and researching it. Give me a break if anybody even likes what you say there as sad as you are

[@matthew-jy5jp]

Buddy your profile picture is Hilarious. Thank you professor 1,970s

[@alanaadams7440]

In war Presidents have much more power than in Peace. I don't care what anyone else says Lincoln had the best for the Union at heart