The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson

 

South	North
Prior to 1861
General P. R. T. Beauregard – commanded all South Carolina military – stationed across bay from Ft. Sumter   Charleston – center of slave trade   James Henry Hammond – 300 slaves 1835 – U. S. House of Representatives Improper behavior with nieces Slave Sally Johnson – mistress 1857 – U. S. Senate   1854 - Senator Stephen Douglas Kansas-Nebraska Act – new territories should decide themselves about slavery   Edmund Ruffin – planter aristocracy, after Lincoln’s election traveled through South to promote succession   James Chestnut – U. S. Senator, resigned seat to protest Lincoln’s election Mary – wife, kept journal, enjoyed social aspect of husband’s career   Frances Pickens - South Carolina governor, seized all other forts and property in Charleston Harbor   General P. G. T. Beauregard – commanded all South Carolina military   Senator Stephen Douglas   Code Duello – rules for how to deal with offenses	Charleston Harbor Major Robert Anderson – commander Ft. Sumter, December 1860 brought all troops to Fr. Sumter and destroyed Ft. Moultrie   Col. John L. Gardner – commander of US Army forces in Charleston   Fort Moltrie – 4 miles east of Charleston, vulnerable   1851 – “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”   1858 – Abraham Lincoln – “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”   President Buchanan 1857 – 1961 Blamed North for problems because it gave slaves ideas about freedom.   Secretary of War Floyd
1861 and beyond
Jefferson Davis – president of Confederate States of America Varina – wife   Alexander Stephens – Vice President   Mary Chestnut – topic of gossip due to “flirtation” with former governor Manning   Edmund Ruffin – fired first shot against Ft. Sumter	Allan Pinkerton – detective agency, warned of assassination attempt in Baltimore on Lincoln’s way to inauguration Kate Warne – chief female detective   Star of the West – ship to reinforce Ft. Sumter – turned back   Ft. Sumter: Major Anderson – in charge Captain Foster – chief engineer, designed fortifications Assistant Surgeon Crawford   Seward – Secretary of State   Sir William Howard Russell – reporter from London Times

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.      Did you like the inclusion of the “Code Duello,” otherwise known as “The Code of Honor or Rules for the Government of Principals and Seconds in Duelling?” How did this add to book?  Did it apply to what was happening between the North and the South?

2.      At Fort Moultrie, Captain Thomas Seymour gave Major Anderson a three-page memo on how he thought the fort could be defended.   The author said that Seymour was “a particularly acute observer” because at West Point he had taken a drawing class.  Do you agree with this connection – did skill at drawing increase his ability to observe things?

3.      The author wrote about Lincoln’s inauguration, “…the ineffectual James Buchanan, had let all this come to pass without making any substantive effort to stop it” (page 298).  Was there anything Buchanan could have done or was the split and consequent war inevitable?

 

4.      In explaining the differences in opinion about slavery, the author wrote, “…the thing that the South most resented was the unalterable fact that the North, like the rest of the modern world, condemned slavery as a fundamental evil.  In so doing, abolitionists and their allies impinged the honor of the entire Southern white race, for if slavery was indeed evil, then the South itself was evil” (page 196).  He went on to explain that the South thought slavery was “a positive good…endorsed by the Bible” (page 196), and therefore the owners were good.  Could you understand their thought process?

5.      What did all the information about Mary Chestnut add to the story?  She had 26 references in the index (compared to 17 for John) and her two diaries are cited in the list of references.  In addition, the author mentioned the diaries in the Acknowledgements.

6.      What was the point about Mary’s flirtations with John Manning?  Why was this included several times?

7.      Did you like when the author told you what would happen to a person later?  For example, he told the reader that Col. George E. Picket would “lead an ill-fated charge at Gettysburg” on page 382.

8.      The bulk of the book was about Ft. Sumter.  How did this add to your understanding of the Civil War?

9.      Could you understand Robert E. Lee’s conflict of interest and subsequent decision to join the Confederate Army even though he was against slavery?

10. Why do you think the author chose to end the book in the last paragraph with Edmund Ruffin’s suicide?

11. Did reading this book give you any new insights into the Civil War or to the issue of slavery vs. equality?

12. Did you like the format of the book – the almost day-to-day telling of the story?