many of the abolitionists during the civil war and reconstruction were religiously motivated, sincerelial truistic, committed to democracy and racial justice. mc mcpherson was a pioneer in african-american history. he argued among other things that black soldiers were crucial to the winning of the war and the preservation of the union. this book opened the door to scholarship on african-americans as active agents in winning their freedom from slavery. his black in america bib league graph cal essays in 1971 helped to establish african-american history as legitimate scholarly discipline. as the vietnam war came to the foreof american consciousness, a conventional truism assumed that those who i pose the war would later become conservatives or certain of their children would. an idea so common it became the premise for the popular tv show "family ties" that propelled j. michael fox to stardom. mcpherson examined the abolitionists and their children after the civil war. in the legacy from reconstructions to the naacp most abolitionists and their children stayed the course, reflecting strong idealism