Eric Foner Quote
On the eve of the Civil War, the federal government was in a state of impotence, its conception of its duties little changed since the days of Washington and Jefferson. Most functions of government were handled at the state and local level; one could live out one’s life without ever encountering an official representative of national authority. But the exigencies of war created, as Sen. George S. Boutwell later put it, a new government, with a greatly expanded income, bureaucracy, and set of responsibilities.40
Eric Foner
On the eve of the Civil War, the federal government was in a state of impotence, its conception of its duties little changed since the days of Washington and Jefferson. Most functions of government were handled at the state and local level; one could live out one’s life without ever encountering an official representative of national authority. But the exigencies of war created, as Sen. George S. Boutwell later put it, a new government, with a greatly expanded income, bureaucracy, and set of responsibilities.40