Book Review: A Press Divided: Newspaper Coverage of the Civil War, by David B. Sachsman (Ed.)

Abstract

David B. Sachsman (Ed.) A Press Divided: Coverage of the Civil War . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. 391 pp.A Press Divided is a strong collection of articles first presented as conference papers that examine the role of the prior, during, and after the War. The purpose, says Sachsman, is determine the influence of on public opinion, the pictures in the heads of people North and and around the world (p. ix). As the editor of the richly sourced work, he holds the George R. West, Jr., Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Sachsman also serves as director of the annual symposium on the l9th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression. In introduction, Sachsman stresses the influence papers had on the War and how sharply divided that was, both politically and regionally. The power of the press was feared, and President Abraham Lincoln and his Republican government turned this fear into action by arresting editors and suppressing hundreds of newspapers (p. x). The question Sachsman and colleagues pose is whether or not the divisions among the actually set the agenda for the civil war (p. ix).The book is divided into three sections. Part I: Splitting a Nation examines coverage of the presidential election of 1860. Part II: Covering the Conflict explores newspaper coverage of the Civil War, including political cartoons and photography capturing the war. Part III: Dissension and Suppression North and South analyzes the divide among both Northern and Southern as well as the treatment of dissenters by both sides (p. xiii).Editing a book about the Civil War, before and after, is a monumental task, so each author has done an extraordinary job referencing, sourcing, and elaborating on their respective areas. From David W. Bulla's Newspaper Coverage of the Rise of Lincoln in 1860: Cooper Union, the Republican Convention and the Election to Wendy Swanberg's Ex Parte McCardle and the First Amendment During Reconstruction, the authors include editorials, headlines, commentaries, cartoons, and disturbing photographs capturing the war.In Thomas Robinson's 'Just Before a Mighty Earthquake': Secession Crisis in Muscogee County, Georgia, a quote is referenced by the editor of the Columbus Daily Times, 2 days before ballots were cast (November 9, 1860) in the presidential election-where Lincoln was a shoe-in:Let us not be deceived. Let us not be worshippers of a Union, whose spirit, whose life, whose vitality has departed! Let us act like men. Let us be equals. Let us erect, if necessary, a government for ourselves where the light of liberty will forever shine, and where the demon of abolitionism will never raise head. (p. 37)And in Father Abraham, Mammy and Aunty Abe: Gender in Civil War Cartoons of Abraham Lincoln, author Andrea Foroughi takes us into depictions,distortions of character, and portraits of our 16th president. Foroughi says,Over the course of Lincoln's presidency, in at least six cartoons that included him [Lincoln], artists depicted advisors, associates, or others as female. The tall, lean president was juxtaposed favorably against pudgy, passive predecessor in two early cartoons. Of the four other cartoons in which Lincoln appeared with men in women's dress, Lincoln's strength as a leader was called into question in three cases in 1871 and 1863. …