As the title suggests the book has two intertwined subjects the idea of the war as a second american revolution and the role of lincoln in guiding its purpose and outcome was it really a kind of revolution or did it as many have argued change little or nothing mcpherson argues forcefully for the former the war ended for good the souths political domination of the nation destroyed its slavery based economic structure and left blacks undeniably far freer and better off at least . Abraham lincoln and the second american revolution is a great collection of thought provoking essays by todays preeminent civil war historian even those whove read extensively on lincoln and the civil war will find something new here and anyone with a political science bent will especially appreciate the political theory in this volume. He explores the importance of lincolns great rhetorical skills uncovering how through parables and figurative language he was uniquely able to communicate both the purpose of the war and a new meaning of liberty to the people of the north in another section mcpherson examines the civil war as a second american revolution describing how the republican congress elected in 1860 passed an astonishing blitz of new laws rivaling the first hundred days of the new deal and how the war not . The book calls the civil war era the second american revolution because with lincolns help it brought about a fundamental transformation in the social and political make up of the united states lincolns administration shifted national power structures away from aristocracy to northern industrial capitalism transformed the national economy instituted a national currency and passed amendments to the constitution that emancipated slaves and redefined the concept of civil . According to abraham lincoln and the second american revolution was the overthrow of slavery a political economical or capitalist revolution or