Watch Carwardine Discuss "Righteous Strife"

Washington D.C.

Oct. 13, 2025

Author Richard Carwardine joined the Lincoln Group on Oct. 11 to discuss his thought-provoking new book "Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union."

The recording of his presentation and of the question-and-answer session that followed is now available on the Lincoln Group's YouTube channel:

Carwardine, a Welshman by birth, is a professor emeritus at Oxford University, where he served as Rhodes Professor of American History from 2002 to 2009 and as president of Corpus Christi College from 2010 to 2016.

Carwardine argues in his book that the Civil War was not only a battle over slavery but also a clash of visions regarding God's will for the future of the United States. He describes how three styles of religious nationalism influenced public opinion and political decisions during this tumultuous period. The war was dominated by the conflict between Bible-believing nationalists in both the north and south who were certain that God supported their anti- or pro-slavery side. Within the north there was another division between antislavery religious nationalists and conservative religious pro-slavery constitutionalists. The stories behind these intense faith-driven positions reveal a fascinating portrait of how American values were (and likely are) affected.

See more from the Lincoln Group of DC and subscribe to our channel on YouTube. 

And take the opportunity to visit Lincolnian.org and click on the "join now" button at the upper right, and join us. One benefit of membership is the chance to join the Group's book study forum, which meets monthly to discuss in depth books about Lincoln and the Civil War era, a few chapters at a time. "Righteous Strife" is the group's current book.