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Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 300
Illustrations: 8 b&w halftones

Civil War
Civil Rights
Reconstruction Era
ebook
hardcover
Reconstruction Reconsidered
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The Republican House Divided

Civil War Memory, Civil Rights, and the Transformation of the GOP

Tim Galsworthy

Paperback

Published:

Hardcover
978-1-64336-508-4
Published: Nov 20 2025

$44.99

Ebook
978-1-64336-652-4
Published: Nov 20 2025

OA Ebook
978-1-64336-652-4
Published: Nov 20 2025

$0.00

The inclusion of this book in the Open Carolina collection is made possible by the generous funding of

How the Republican Party transformed from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of Lee

The Republican House Divided is the first comprehensive study of the relationships between the Republican Party and Civil War memory in the twentieth century. Tim Galsworthy reveals how rival Republicans deployed Civil War memory to support, oppose, and ultimately shape the GOP's transformation, during the civil rights era, into a racially conservative party. Drawing on extensive archival research, Galsworthy underlines how references to the past were vitally important to Republican Party politicians as they negotiated their party's positions toward African American civil rights and attempted to appeal to erstwhile white Southern Democrats. Paying attention to a range of actors—including national party leaders, southern conservatives, prominent progressives, and defiant Black Republicans—he traces the actions of Republican politicians and operatives from across the party's ideological and geographical spectrums as they struggled to control and direct party messaging, strategy, and policy. The Republican House Divided is a timely work, offering insight into how the "Party of Lincoln" started on the road to becoming the GOP of today.




Tim Galsworthy is a lecturer in history and military history at Lincoln Bishop University in Lincoln, United Kingdom.

"Everyone who wants to understand the Republican Party of today, or how Civil War memory is used politically, will need to read this book."—Ty Seidule, professor emeritus of history, West Point, author of Robert E. Lee and Me

"While there have been many books written on the 1960s-era Republican party, none have considered fully the role of Civil War memory in Southern Republican ascendance."—Mark McLay, Lancaster University, author of The Republican Party and the War on Poverty

"Galsworthy successfully captures the complicated and competing narratives revitalizing the Civil War within the party itself against the backdrop of the 100-year celebrations of the Appomattox surrender."—Michelle Nickerson, Loyola University Chicago, author of Mothers of Conservatism

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