BRENDA WINEAPPLE

By 1860, a certain sense of inevitability had overtaken the nation. War seemed a foregone conclusion because there was no incentive to budge, to question one’s own righteousness, to create the grounds on which a compromise might occur.

By 1860, a certain sense of inevitability had overtaken the nation. War seemed a foregone conclusion because there was no incentive to budge, to question one’s own righteousness, to create the grounds on which a compromise might occur.