Description

Written while at Duke University, Barnes Hauptfuhrer’s article likewise reflects a wide and careful reading of published and unpublished primary sources. Exploring the politics of unionism and secession in North Carolina, Hauptfuhrer cautions against historical narratives that stress the ‘inevitability’ of secession by revealing the complex and contested local politics from the election of Lincoln to the Fort Sumter crisis. Hauptfuhrer effectively uses an intensive local focus to examine larger questions of Civil War politics.