Ebook: The Worst Passions of Human Nature: White Supremacy in the Civil War North

The American North’s commitment to preventing a southern secession
rooted in slaveholding suggests a society united in its opposition to slavery and racial
inequality. The reality, however, was far more complex and troubling. In his latest book, Paul
Escott lays bare the contrast between progress on emancipation and the persistence of white
supremacy in the Civil War North. Escott analyzes northern politics, as well as the racial
attitudes revealed in the era’s literature, to expose the nearly ubiquitous racism that
flourished in all of American society and culture.