How the South Won the Civil War

Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America

By: Heather Cox Richardson

Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

While the North prevailed in the Civil War, ending slavery and giving the country a "new birth of freedom," Heather Cox Richardson argues in this provocative work that democracy's blood-soaked victory was ephemeral. The system that had sustained the defeated South moved westward and there established a foothold. It was a natural fit. Settlers from the East had for decades been pushing into the West, where the seizure of Mexican lands at the end of the Mexican-American War and treatment of Native Americans cemented racial hierarchies. The South and West equally depended on extractive industries - cotton in the former and mining, cattle, and oil in the latter - giving rise a new birth of white male oligarchy, despite the guarantees provided by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and the economic opportunities afforded by expansion. 

To reveal why this happened, How the South Won the Civil War traces the story of the American paradox, the competing claims of equality and subordination woven into the nation's fabric and identity. At the nation's founding, it was the Eastern "yeoman farmer" who galvanized and symbolized the American Revolution. After the Civil War, that mantle was assumed by the Western cowboy, singlehandedly defending his land against barbarians and savages as well as from a rapacious government. New states entered the Union in the late nineteenth century and western and southern leaders found yet more common ground. As resources and people streamed into the West during the New Deal and World War II, the region's influence grew. "Movement Conservatives," led by westerners Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, claimed to embody cowboy individualism and worked with Dixiecrats to embrace the ideology of the Confederacy.

Richardson's searing book seizes upon the soul of the country and its ongoing struggle to provide equal opportunity to all. Debunking the myth that the Civil War released the nation from the grip of oligarchy, expunging the sins of the Founding, it reveals how and why the Old South not only survived in the West, but thrived.

©2020 by Heather Cox Richardson. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A Concealed Story that Could Not be More Relevant

this is the story of how the current Republican party is the Confederates of the 19th century, and how they got there. The author does a brilliant job with storytelling and connecting the dots that people see throughout American history but can't quite wrap together... to make a linear path from the racist, slave-holding south to the terrible situation that the anti-democracy Republican party now tries to well its way in government and society. very easy listen and I hope this becomes a bestseller so everybody else can understand how we got where we are today.

Disappointing book that wasted such potential.

I was excited to listen to this book but it was ultimately a large disappointment. After listening to much of the book I looked up the author. I realized that she is really just a political activist who has no problem throwing away any credibility she has to make a misleading political argument. After finishing the rest of it: The main thesis of the book is that current day Republicans are the direct descendants of southern antebellum Democrats. The problem with the book is that she takes large logical leaps without explanation or just skips inconvenient parts altogether. Wonder how those racist Democrats turned into Republicans? No good explanation is provided other than the Republicans are racist too so they must be the same. Think the disagreements that led to the Civil War were more complicated than just racist white Democrat slave owners becoming traitors to their country? Sorry, you wont find any competing views here because that would be inconvenient for the narrative she is creating to justify her modern political views. Overall, if you are a modern progressive looking to find a poorly reasoned argument to validate your worldview - have fun. If you are anyone else looking for an interesting historical argument for the current state of American politics then you will want to save your money and time by looking elsewhere.

An Important Thread of Our History

As a native Alabamian, I have watched in sadness and in anger at what I have been calling the Alabamafication of America, a process by which our worst regional impulses are becoming nationalized. This work provided me with essential ties to the West that I had not connected passed Texas, knowing that so many slaveowners seeking to escape mortgage foreclosures on their slave "properties" simply moved them to the Texas Territory beyond the legal reach of their creditors. I underestimated the reach of Confederate influence in the formation of the West.

Stunning!

Exceptional book that spans American History to deliver a damning revelation. Cox Richardson navigates through the American History to constantly deliver on her premise: the United States is an oligarchy which disguises itself in the name of democracy and capitalism. Time and time again, the author delivers points on policy, culture, and other factors which prove that the commoners of the United States has never truly moved out of the shadow of the oligarchical antebellum South. The United States top have and are consistently consolidating power to progress their own self-interest.

Repeating History

Such a well written book and with Heather narrating, a very enjoyable listen. This book shows how the failure to learn from history leads to a continued repetition of Americans being divided by the wealthy elite and in turn, that division is used to continue a transfer of wealth and power to the oligarchs. I highly recommend!

Was hopeful of a truthful read

Couldn’t make it past the introduction. False information and slander gave me no hope for the accuracy of the remainder of this book.

Clear, Compelling and Fascinating

This is the best explanation I have encountered of how the US has arrived at this political and cultural moment. The story is vivid, fast-moving and well-substantiated. The author, a historian and educator, also does a great job of reading her work, adding just the right amount of subtle emphasis at the right times.

spoilers? I'm practicing verbalizing the lesson

At the end I reflected on what had stayed constant in the ideology of the South as it migrated parties, etc. The author said the American Paradox, I need your freedom to be curtailed for my liberty, and valuing property rights above all other Human Rights, Blacks have less support (all of that typically guised in "rugged individualism")

Now I understand how we got here today

I understand how we got here today. I have always been a US history buff and have always had a deep understanding of the real American history with many of the untold stories you don’t hear in high school. This book takes it two steps further helping to illustrate how politics and the political party became what it is today.

Well, that’s pretty depressing...

Prof. Richardson’s text functons as a call to arms for those adherents to demcratic principles. Principles which stretch back to Enlightenment era thinking and champion humankind’s impulse toward the greater good for the many, recognizing the perfidy of those few whose monetary advantage provides leverage to the few who would

Fascinating, enjoyable, insightful

Fascinating insight into why the US is the way it is today, with ideologies of past times still very much present in today’s society and the cyclical dominance of oligarchy, with its rise and fall, repeated, being a core aspect of US history. For someone not too knowledgeable of US history I was not overwhelmed by information nor was I in want of more to put be able to put the discussion into context.

Enlightening

As someone trying to come to terms with my Southern heritage, this excellent book has helped debunk many of the myths I was told. Clear sighted, educated and broad, it puts our epic journey into perspective.