''The Disruption of American Democracy'' is a 1948 nonfiction history book published by American historian

Roy Franklin Nichols Roy Franklin Nichols (March 3, 1896 – January 12, 1973) was an American historian, who won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for History for ''The Disruption of American Democracy''. Biography Nichols was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Franklin Coriell an ...

, which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for History. In the book, Nichols argued that the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

was not fundamentally the product of underlying social and economic forces. Instead, he blames the machinations of "vote-hungry" politicians who calibrated their appeals in a culturally diverse society, which was speedily growing, so as to encourage regional and cultural groups to pursue objectives that led to the breakdown of the Union, something that most didn't seek or foresee.
online edition at archive.org

References

1948 non-fiction books Pulitzer Prize for History-winning works History books about the American Civil War Books about democracy Macmillan Publishers books {{AmericanCivilWar-book-stub