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James McPherson’s “What They Fought For” Book Summary

James McPherson’s “What They Fought For” covers an investigation of the

correspondence of Union and Confederate warriors during the Civil War. There exist heated

arguments on the motive of the Civil War, why the soldiers decided to participate in the war.

Through the incorporation of a collection of thousands of journals and letters written by Civil War

soldiers, McPherson author provides answers from the horse’s mouth. The author argues

persuasively, based on extensive research of Civil War letters and diaries, which many soldiers

who took part in the Civil War from both sides “were intensely aware of the issues at stake and

passionately concerned about them.” (McPherson p.11). The author notes that the ideological

motivation theme turned out to be more significant than he expected when he embarked on the

project. The preface explains the causes that made soldiers fight and how they managed to cope

with emotions and stress. McPherson should not be criticized by critiques claiming that he has

written a second book he contradicts his initial publication. The major part of the historic book

talks about the correspondence of Confederate soldiers whereas Chapter two entails Union

officers. The last section of the book focuses on perspectives from both sides concerning

subjugation. Such an outlook is an instructive exploration of the philosophy of the Civil War

soldiers (McPherson p.2).

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McPherson introduces his work by notifying the readers that the intellectual origins are

dated several years back. His trips to Civil War battlefields where thousands of soldiers took part

in deadly attacks prompted McPherson to pose a question, “What possessed these men? How could

they sacrifice themselves in that way?” (McPherson p. 7). His attempt to answer the question leads

him to explore several factors that motivated soldiers from the Northern and the Southern and

sustained them during hardships. Among the concepts, he explores include honor, duty, religion

influence, discipline, and manhood. However, McPherson notes that the American soldiers of

World War II did not show the same vigor demonstrated by soldiers of the Civil War. The author

goes forth to explain that the Civil War militias had “ideological attachments ...to something

beyond their comrades in squad or company: to nationalism, liberty, democracy, self-government,

and so on.” (McPherson p. 13) The best combat soldiers were considered to be the most ideological

and patriotic individuals since they believed in what they fought for. The Northen troops went to

the battlefield with great tenacity since, besides their use of more advanced elements, they clearly

understood the historical significance of their actions.

Chapter 1: "The Holy Cause of Liberty and Independence"

Chapter one of McPherson’s “What We Fought For” mainly focuses on the southern

Confederate troops, whore compared the Civil War to the Revolutionary war. They perceived their

rivals from the North as tyrants whose main obsession was to oppression the south, based on their

experience with the British colonists around fifty years before. The perception provided the

Southern troops with a ‘holy cause of southern freedom,” which made them step into their

forefather's shoes and accomplish the mission they had started; to fight for their constitutional

rights and freedom.” (Mcpherson p.21) The chapter also accounts for the lives that the confederates
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lived through the various letter and journals they wrote during the Civil War. The letter entails

many things from what the Southern felt and their perception towards the Civil War, how they felt

about the tyrannical Yanks, the southern ideology, the concept of slavery and the desire for the

war to come to an end. McPherson however note that there were very few letter and journals

written by black soldiers and the freed slaves. On this context, he states that “Perhaps the best

summary of what blacks fought for was provided by a literate slave who escaped from his master

in North Carolina and joined the Union navy in September 1862.” (McPherson p.7)

Chapter 2: "The Best Gov. On God's Footstool."

In the second chapter, McPherson diverts the readers to the Confederates rivals, the

Northern Yankees. The author seeks to answer the question, “Why the Northern took part in the

Civil War.” Formed in 1776, the Unions were determined to finish their enemies from the South

and remain the sole owners of the land. Similar to the Confederate, they also based their motive to

the Revolutionary War. The Northern soldiers fought the “Traitors who sought to tear down and

break into fragments the glorious temple that our forefathers reared with blood and tears”

(McPherson p. 28). They also believed to be fighting for what their forefathers fought for. A

Missouri soilder wrote that "We fight for the blessings bought by the blood and treasure of our

Fathers." (McPherson p. 28) They believed that should the South emerge victorious in the Civil

War, the power and authority of the constitution would be severely undermined, which would lead

to the fall of the Union troop which was U. S’s foundation. The Unions referred and perceived the

Northern as “Rebels” who were not supposed to be part of the United States due to their inhumane

and egocentric actions. In one of the letters to his wife, a soldier in Sherman army “We want to

kill them all off and cleanse the country… their punishment is light when compared with what
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justice is demanded” (Mc.Pherson 40-41). The Northern troops could not conform to the thought

of succession since they believed that failure to win would make them responsible before God.

Chapter 3: "The War Will Never End Until We End Slavery"

In the last chapter, McPherson focuses on the war itself, and the participants as it was

the case with the other chapter. Here he explores the pillars and the factors that contributed to the

Civil War, the components of the war and slavery. It tends to portray how one side wanted to

maintain the war while the other side wanted to end it. The chapter expounds deeper on the

contribution of each side towards the success or end of the Civil War. The Confederates believed

that it was a god-given right for them to have slaves since superiors had to be in control of the

weak (McPherson p. 68). In contrast, the North was firmly against slavery since it violated the

constitution. However, through some letter from the Yankees, the author notes that some of them

believed that it was the only tactic they would emerge victors. Abraham Lincoln however knew

and thought that abolishing slavery was the only means of reuniting the U.S and ending the Civil

War.
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Work Cited

McPherson, James M. What they fought for 1861-1865. Louisiana State University Press, 1994.