With Malice toward Some

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432 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, appends., notes, bibl., index

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-5209-2
Published: February 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-1405-2
Published: June 2014
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-1406-9
Published: June 2014
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-7027-8
Published: June 2014

Littlefield History of the Civil War Era

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Awards & distinctions

Finalist, 2015 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

Few issues created greater consensus among Civil War-era northerners than the belief that the secessionists had committed treason. But as William A. Blair shows in this engaging history, the way politicians, soldiers, and civilians dealt with disloyalty varied widely. Citizens often moved more swiftly than federal agents in punishing traitors in their midst, forcing the government to rethink legal practices and definitions. In reconciling the northern contempt for treachery with a demonstrable record of judicial leniency toward the South, Blair illuminates the other ways that northerners punished perceived traitors, including confiscating slaves, arresting newspaper editors for expressions of free speech, and limiting voting. Ultimately, punishment for treason extended well beyond wartime and into the framework of Reconstruction policies, including the construction of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Establishing how treason was defined not just by the Lincoln administration, Congress, and the courts but also by the general public, Blair reveals the surprising implications for North and South alike.

About the Author

William A. Blair, Walter L. and Helen P. Ferree Professor of Middle American History at the Pennsylvania State University, serves as director of the Richards Civil War Era Center and as Founding Editor of the Journal of the Civil War Era.
For more information about William A. Blair, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

“This book is not only a great reference for any Civil War Historian to have on their shelf, but it is a great explanation for those who have been confused about the legal status of treason and the ways in which it was combated during the Civil War.”--Gettysburg Chronicle

“In this wide-ranging book. . . one of Blair’s great accomplishments [is] that he can effectively consider the issue [of treason] on so many levels, making this both a sophisticated and fascinating study of the effort to define and stamp out disloyalty in the Civil War era.”--America’s Civil War

"Blair found that local residents played a large role in influencing [treason] charges and arrests."--Publishers Weekly

"For anyone with an interest in how northerners--including all three branches of government, military officers, clergy, the press, and average citizens--constructed notions of treason, this important book should not be missed."--Civil War Monitor

“Markedly improve[s] our understanding of the politics and policing of treason. . . . [This] wise and timely book offers fresh ways to think about persistently relevant questions.”--North Carolina Historical Review

"[Lays] the foundation for future studies of treason and disloyalty in the Civil War era and beyond." --American Historical Review