Lincoln and California - by Brian McGinty (Hardcover)

About the Book

Lincoln and California portrays the previously unrecognized ties between President Abraham Lincoln and the Golden State, portraying his key relationships with close friends and personal acquaintances that helped influence the imperiled Union.

Book Synopsis

The ties that bound Abraham Lincoln to California, and California to Lincoln, have long been overlooked by historians. Although the great Civil War president has been the subject of thousands of books, his important relationship with the Western state, both before and during the war--the part it played in bringing on the great conflict and the help it gave him in winning it--have been little described and imperfectly understood. In Lincoln and California Brian McGinty explains the relationship between the president and the Golden State, describing important events that took place in California and elsewhere during Lincoln's lifetime. He includes the histories of Lincoln's close friends and personal acquaintances who made history as they went to California, lived there, and helped to keep it part of the imperiled Union.

McGinty demonstrates that California was in large part responsible for beginning the Civil War, as the principal purpose of its conquest in the Mexican War was to acquire land into which the Southern states could extend their cotton-growing and slaveholding empire. The decision of California's first voters to exclude slavery from the state but to enact virulently racist legislation encouraged Southerners' hope that, if they established a separate republic, it would become an independent slave nation with the power to extend its territory to the Pacific coast of North America and into the Caribbean and Latin America. Lincoln's opposition to their plans unleashed the Civil War.

As the struggle played out, however, the hopes of the proslavery Confederates were ultimately defeated because California played a vital role in helping Lincoln save the Union. Lincoln and California shines new light on an important state, a pivotal president, and a turning point in American history.

Review Quotes

Praise for Brian McGinty's Lincoln's Greatest Case: The River, the Bridge, and the Making of America
"Of the 5,000-plus cases in which attorney Abraham Lincoln participated, none had more national significance than the one that Brian McGinty ably describes and analyzes in this highly readable volume. Based on thorough research, McGinty not only sheds a bright light on Lincoln's contribution to the defense of the bridge company but also places the story within the larger context of American economic, social, and military history."--Michael Burlingame, noted Lincoln scholar and president of the Abraham Lincoln Association

"A valuable and rich addition to the literature on Lincoln and the Golden State."--Michael Green, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association

"McGinty's welcome examination of California during the Civil War era reminds us that no part of the nation escaped the scourge of that transformative conflict."--Robert Tinkler, California History

"McGinty's work should especially appeal to those already interested in California's history or the history of the West more generally."--Jeremy Knoll, H-War

"Meticulously researched, a vital read for anyone who wants a complete understanding of the causes of the Civil War."--Harlan Hague, Roundup Magazine

"Readers will find this an illuminating book, embracing a rich cast of characters against the dramatic background of our greatest national crisis."--Martin P. Johnson, H-CivWar

"McGinty's book is a fine read and undoubtedly makes important contributions to the body of Lincoln scholarship. . . . Lincoln aficionados should welcome this work into their collections."--Derek Maxfield, Emerging Civil War-- (1/11/2024 12:00:00 AM)

"Brian McGinty's informative survey of the many Civil War-era connections between the Golden State and the nation's 16th president effectively combines content and approachability."--Civil War Books and Authors blog-- (11/7/2023 12:00:00 AM)

Praise for Brian McGinty's Archy Lee's Struggle for Freedom
"Brian McGinty is an enormously talented storyteller and historian. He has a journalist's sense of how to ferret out facts and stories and weave them together."--Paul Finkelman, noted scholar of American legal history and Rydell Visiting Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College

About the Author

Brian McGinty is the award-winning author of twelve books, including Lincoln's Greatest Case: The River, the Bridge, and the Making of America; Lincoln and the Court; and John Brown's Trial, and more than two hundred articles on American history, the American West, and American legal history.