New Jersey's Civil War: Burlington City and the Preservation of the Union

I have a very keen interest in New Jersey history, but more specifically New Jersey during the Civil War. So from time to time I plan to publish a series of posts featuring profiles of key figures within the state during the war as well as primary documents from this era. So hope you enjoy these posts.

In this first post I am going to share some of my personal research on this subject. This is my senior thesis from Rider University, which is entitled "Burlington City and the Preservation of the Union." I examined the words of Burlinton City's soldiers (both white and black) and the prominant Peace Democrat (or Copperhead) James Walter Wall and came to the conclusion that all three groups wished to preserve the Union, but favored different means to bring about this shared goal. This essay is actually serving as basis for my masters' thesis, which I am working on now, that will look at the words and actions of James Wall. I hope to use Wall as a case study of the limits of loyal opposition in New Jersey during the war years. The paper can be read here, but please do not cite or quote without the author's permission.