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Interpretations of the past are subject to change in response to new evidence, new questions asked of the evidence, new perspectives gained by the passage of time.

— James M. McPherson

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More quotes by James M. McPherson

If Lincoln had been a failure, he would have lived a longer life.

James M. McPherson. Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief (2008)

People are going to dislike you if you make a decision, even if it turns out to be the right one.

An Exchange With a Civil War Historian (1995)

The unending quest of historians for understanding the past — that is, 'revisionism' — is what makes history vital and meaningful.

The bottom line in the Civil War, after all is said and done, showed that every Confederate state was a slave state and every free state was a Union state. These facts were not a coincidence, and every Civil War soldier knew it.

Southern political leaders were threatening to take their states out of the Union if a Republican president was elected on a platform restricting slavery.

James M. McPhersonThis Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War (2007)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: James M. McPherson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.