Days of Defiance by Maury Klein is a very interesting and detailed account of the
events leading up to the Civil War. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf inc. in New York
City in 1997. It is a four hundred and twenty one-page book.
The author of this book is Maury Klein. Klein is a professor of history at the
University of Rhode Island. He specializes in American history during the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. This gives him good credentials to write an accurate book on the
coming of the Civil War, since the Civil War took place in the nineteenth century. He has
written other books on the Civil War as well as on other books on American History
during the nineteenth century. Klein therefore has a vast knowledge on the Civil War and
on the time period of the Civil War. This allows him to write a very accurate and detailed
account of the events that led up to the Civil War.
This book deals with the start and causes of the Civil War. It starts with the election of
Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States in 1860 and ends with the attack
on Fort Sumter in 1861. The approach of the book is a documentary approach. Klein
divides the book into three parts. Part one is entitled The Battle Over Washington, the
second part is entitled The Battle Over Secession, and the third part of the book is entitled
The Battle Over Fort Sumter. Klein also describes the events in chronological order. He
goes through the major events of each month starting with November 1860 and going
through April 1861. Overall the book covers six months leading up to the start of the
Civil War. The length of the book is four hundred and twenty one pages. it is a very well
organized book. It is divided into three parts and twenty-three chapters. For the most
part it is told in chronological order, but in some places it goes into the past to discuss
events that help the reader understand the current situation.
Klein starts off the book by talking about the election of 1860 in chapter one. He
describes the different reactions across the country to Lincoln being elected president.
Klein describes the reaction to the election of the northern states, the southern states, and
the border states as well. Klein also touches a little bit on the problems Lincoln being
elected causes, and how these problems are being thrown on the current president James
Buchanon until Lincoln would be inaugurated in March. In chapter two Klein starts off
by talking about the admittance of Florida and Texas into the Union and expansionism in
general. He then talks about slavery and the problems it causes with expansionism. Klein
then discusses how the country is divided over the issue from the common people to the
government officials. In chapter three Klein goes back to talk about past events that tried
to solve the problem of slavery and events that helped lead to more division among the
country on the issue. He talked about the Fugitive Slave Act, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, the idea of popular
sovereignty, the Missouri Compromise, and the Dred Scott decision. In chapter four
Klein talks about the two senators from South Carolina; James Chestnut and James
Hammond. He describes their lives and the fact that they both owned plantations and the
way they both rose to the Senate. In the next chapter Klein talks about three cities:
Charleston, South Carolina; Washington D.C.; and Springfield, Illinois. He talks about the
cities’ attitudes and reactions to the current situation of the country. In the next chapter
Klein talks about Major Robert Anderson and how he was sent to take over command at
Fort Sumter. He then talked about the problems president Buchannon faced with the
impending secession of South Carolina. The next chapter discussed the uproar that the
possibility of secession was causing in the government and in the country. The next
chapter talked about the new governor of South Carolina Francis W. Pickens. Klein then
talks about the official secession of South Carolina from the United States on December
20, 1860. In the next chapter Klein talks about Anderson’s refusal to surrender Fort
Sumter and the reaction to it from both Buchannon and South Carolina.
The next part of the book starts off with Klein talking about the preparations Lincoln
was making for his presidency. He talked about Lincoln’s selections for positions in his
cabinet. Klein also talks about how South Carolina had sent troops toward Fort Sumter
and the fact that tensions were rising. The next chapter starts off with Klein talking about
how South Carolina had surrounded Fort Sumter and were denying any reinforcements.
He also talked about the impending problems at Pensacola Naval Yard and at the
surrounding forts. The next chapter talked about the efforts of Congress to avoid any war
or fighting. Klein then talked about the numerous committees Congress created to try to
solve the conflict. He also talked about the different discussions in Congress over slavery
and secession and the numerous failed attempts at compromise. The next chapter deals
with the possibility of a Civil War. Klein talked about how many politicians felt as if Civil
War was unavoidable. The chapter also dealt with how the seceded states met in
Montgomery, Alabama to deal with forming a new government. Klein also talked about
how they decided to elect Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy. The next
chapter started off by talking about Jefferson Davis’s life and his rise to the presidency of
the Confederacy. Klein then talked about his journey to Montgomery for his inauguration.
Next Klein talked about Lincoln’s journey to Washington D.C. for his inauguration and of
rumored threats of assination attempts on Lincoln. The next chapter talked about the
arrival of Lincoln in Washington for his inauguration. It also talked about the rude and
harsh treatment Lincoln received in Maryland before he arrived in Washington. It then
talked about the possibility that Lincoln might evacuate his troops from Fort Sumter. The
next chapter started off by talking about a national peace conference but it failed to
accomplish anything. Klein then talked about the impeding conflict at Fort Sumter.
The next part of the book started off by talking about Lincoln’s inauguration and his
inaugural address. Klein then talked about the anxiousness of the country and of the
Confederacy to hear Lincoln’s inaugural address. Klein then talked about the reaction of
the country and of the Confederacy to Lincoln’s inaugural address. The next chapter
talked about Lincoln’s problem of trying to solve this crisis. It talked about how Lincoln
had met with his close advisors and with his cabinet to try to come up with a solution to
the crisis of secession and to the conflict at Fort Sumter. Klein then talked about how
they were unable to come up with any solutions. The next chapter talked about how the
South Carolina troops had cut off all supplies to Fort Sumter. It then talked about how
there was a rumor that Lincoln was going to evacuate Fort Sumter. It then talked about
how South Carolina was now waiting and expecting for the surrender of Fort Sumter.
The next chapter talked about the ongoing problems at Fort Pickens and at Pensacola. It
talked about how Lincoln said he would not surrender any Union forts. It then talked
about how the Union predicted a probable attack on Fort Sumter by South Carolina.
Klein then talked about the preparations that were being made at Fort Sumter . The next
chapter talked about the last attempt by Lincoln and his advisors to find a solution to Fort
Sumter. They decided to try to send supplies and reinforcements, even though it would be
breaking their truce with the Confederacy and possibly cause an attack by South Carolina.
The next chapter talked about how there was a problem with the relief effort to Sumter.
There were conflicting orders and delayed the departure of the relief effort. It then talked
about how Confederate President Jefferson Davis had ordered the attack on Fort Sumter.
The last chapter of the book dealt with the attack on Fort Sumter. It describes how South
Carolina opened fire on Fort Sumter. Klein then talked about how the Union troops had
to conserve what little ammunition they had. Klein then talked about how after the first
day Fort Sumter hadn’t suffered much damage b had run out of supplies. Knowing that
reinforcements would not reach them in time Major Anderson surrendered.
I think this book is an important book I think it is important book. I think it is
important because it deals with the Civil War, the biggest war in American history. It also
deals with some of the biggest problems our country has faced. Those problems being
secession and slavery. It shows us the mistakes our country made and the rift it caused in
our country. That’s why this book is important. The questions this book answers is why
the Civil War happened. It happened because of slavery and secession. It raised the
question of how would the country respond to and handle the problems of slavery and
secession. It answered this question by showing that we as a nation handled it poorly by
not being able to solve the problems and cause a Civil War. This book offers a fresh
approach that I really liked. Klein used quotes from prominent people at the time
throughout the book. By using the quotations you get a sense of what the people of the
time were thinking and what they felt about the problems of slavery and secession and
how they felt about the situation of the country. Also it gives you the idea of what people
were thinking from both sides of the issues. Also Klein would focus on certain people
throughout the book. I also like this technique because it gives you good insight into that
person’s thoughts and feelings on a topic. Klein shows no prejudice towards either side.
He doesn’t side with any one either. The sources of information, especially the
quotations, are used very well. I think this book would be better to read than others on
the subject for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are Klein gives good insight
into the people of the times by focusing on their actions and also by using quotes. Also
Klein specializes in this period of American history so he knows a great deal about this
subject matter. Klein fulfills my expectations by writing a very accurate, detailed, and
interesting account of the events leading to the Civil War.
I think this book is valuable to anyone who would want to learn about the Civil War
and it’s causes, especially secession. This book paid a lot of attention to secession. Also
anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln because Klein gave a good insight into Lincoln
during his first few months of his presidency. This book has more permanent issues
because it shows us the mistake we made with the Civil War. It also teaches us not to
make the same mistakes by learning from our earlier mistakes. I think this book should be
recommended over other books on the subject because Klein did a very good job of
writing this book. I agree with others that this is a very good book on the causes of the
Civil War. Overall I think this book is very interesting and well written book that I
learned a lot from.
History Essays
