North Against South: The American Iliad 1848-1877

North Against South: The American Iliad 1848-1877 by Ludwell H. Johnson. Paperback: 301 pages. (Columbia, SC: Foundation for American Education, 2003), Amazon.com $9.95.

Review by Ryan Setliff

North Against South: The American Iliad 1848-1877 by Ludwell Johnson is a most provocative account of the road to disunion, the late War Between the States, and the short-lived Confederacy which was militarily extirpated in 1865.

Ludwell Johnson presents basic objective historical facts from the beginning of the sectional crisis that afflicted antebellum America. The problem today is that what passes for objectivity these days is scholarship that squarely casts the blame for the conflict on southern intemperance while marginalizing northern usurpations of the compact and its conduct in the war. While it is admitted that a pro-Unionist could feasibly write an objective account, many historians spend their time obfuscating historical fact, rationalizing atrocities and downplaying abuses committed by the Lincoln regime.

Nonetheless, historian Ludwell Johnson levels the playing field and presents information that other historians deny or gloss over. He offers an insightful social and political history from the sectionalism crisis that emerged in antebellum America to the post-Reconstruction era. Moreover, Johnson gives clarity to the various issues at stake, such as: the spread of slavery to the territories; federal funding for internal improvements; and exorbitant protectionist tariffs lobbied for by northern industrialists. This is not a strict military history per se, but a handy succinct companion volume covering a pivotal juncture in American history-the sectional crisis, the War Between the States, and Reconstruction. Yes, it is granted, this is an historical perspective that would appeal to Southern partisans, but it doesn't obfuscate historical fact. As historian Clyde Wilson proclaims, this work "redeemed the honor of the Confederacy." John Mering, former Professor Emeritus of History at University of Arizona has called this "...the southern version..." Historian and Stonewall Jackson's biographer James I. Robertson have also lavished praise on Johnson's book as well.

Ludwell Johnson is Professor Emeritus of History at the College of William and Mary and a specialist on the War Between the States and Reconstruction era.

What Others Have Said

• "Ludwell Johnson's work is the history that has long been waited for by Southerns (and by their sympathizers, far more numerous than than is usually admitted). By mashalling objective information that has long been known but ignored, Johnson has desacralized 'the glorious war for the Union' and redemmed the honour of the Confederacy."
  —Clyde N. Wilson, University of South Carolina
• "...Johnson presents all of the basic facts that the beginning studen or casual reader should know. Yet it is the author's assertions and conclusions that make this book as provacative as it is stimulating."
  —James I. Robertson, Jr., Virginia Polytechnic Institute