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The War and the Political Debate about Ireland

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The American Civil War in British Culture
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Abstract

From the very outbreak of hostilities Britons were exposed to the contesting notions of political unity and political autonomy that were embedded in the rhetoric explaining the Civil War. British correspondents and envoys reported from America and, throughout the war, Northern and Southern agitators worked indefatigably in Britain to convey their respective — naturally conflicting — ideas about the issues.1 Accordingly, as historians have already pointed out, Britons could and did draw parallels between the war in the United States and the questions that it raised about nationalism and British affairs.2

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Notes

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© 2015 Nimrod Tal

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Tal, N. (2015). The War and the Political Debate about Ireland. In: The American Civil War in British Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137489265_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137489265_2

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-57389-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-48926-5

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