Liberty and Slavery - (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) by Niels Eichhorn (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In Liberty and Slavery, Niels Eichhorn suggests that the language of slavery--the essence of human oppression--was a crucial component for revolutionary struggles, especially separatist ones, in Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. By tracing separatist uprisings and revolutionaries from 1830 and 1848 to 1861, his study shows that separatism was a widespread phenomenon during the nineteenth century and that the southern Confederacy in America was nothing unique. In addition, by looking at the language of slavery, which served to justify separatism in places like Poland and Hungary but not Ireland or Schleswig-Holstein, Eichhorn's work provides additional answers to why European separatists sided with the Union rather than the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He places the events in North America in a broader international framework and illustrates important complexities regarding trans-Atlantic migration studies"--

Book Synopsis

In Liberty and Slavery, Niels Eichhorn examines the language of slavery, which he considers central to revolutionary struggles, especially those waged in Europe in the nineteenth century. Eichhorn begins in 1830 with separatist movements in Greece, Belgium, and Poland, which laid the foundation for rebellions undertaken later in the century, and then shifts focus to the 1848 uprisings in Ireland, Hungary, and Schleswig-Holstein. He argues that revolutionaries embraced or rejected the language of slavery as they saw fit, using it to justify their rebellions and larger goals.

The failure of these insurgencies propelled a wave of revolutionary migrants across the Atlantic world. Those who journeyed to the United States felt the need to adjust to the political and sectional divisions in their new home. Eichhorn shows that separatism was widespread during this period; the secessionist aims of the American Confederacy were by no means unique.

Additionally, Eichhorn explores these migrants' motivations for shunning the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Having been steeped in the language of slavery and separatism, they naturally sided with the Union when the sectional crisis culminated in civil war in 1861.

Review Quotes

Liberty and Slavery deftly connects American secessionism and separatist movements in nineteenth-century Europe. Although separatists shared the same language of liberty, Eichhorn explores the different meanings those terms acquired on different sides of the Atlantic, making an important contribution to the scholarship on the international context of the American Civil War.--Paul Quigley, author of The Civil War and the Transformation of American Citizenship

Niels Eichhorn has brilliantly succeeded in explaining Confederate Secession as the latest in a series of comparable and contemporaneous similar movements. In the process, he has also added a great deal to our understanding of the motivations of European immigrants for joining in the American Civil War.--Enrico Dal Lago, author of William Lloyd Garrison and Giuseppe Mazzini: Abolition, Democracy, and Radical Reform

Niels Eichhorn offers a capacious transnational history of nineteenth-century separatist movements. His work is certain to deepen our understanding of the international dimensions of the American Civil War.--Andre Fleche, author of The Revolution of 1861: The American Civil War in the Age of Nationalist Conflict

About the Author

Niels Eichhorn is assistant professor of history at Middle Georgia State University.