The Confederate Republic

by Rable, George C.

• ISBN13: 9780807858189
• ISBN10: 0807858188
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-26
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

In this investigation of Confederate political culture, George Rable focuses on the assumptions, values, and beliefs that formed the foundation of Confederate political ideology. He shows how southerners attempted to purify the political process and avoid what they saw as the evils of parties and partisanship. According to Rable, secession marked the beginning of a revolution against politics, in which the Confederacy's founding fathers saw themselves as the true heirs of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, factionalism developed within the Confederacy as the war dragged on, and the conflict carried over from the strictly political sphere to matters of military strategy, civil religion, and education. Rable concludes that despite the war's outcome, the Confederacy's antipolitical legacy had a profound impact on southern politics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Old South A Political Culture in Crisis	p. 6
Through A Glass Darkly Secession and the Future Of Southern Politics	p. 20
The Crisis of Southern Constitutionalism	p. 39
Establishing Political Legitimacy	p. 64
A New Political Universe	p. 88
Origins Of Political Crisis	p. 111
Desperate Times Desperate Measures Desperate Politics	p. 132
Internal Stresses of War	p. 154
The Two Political Cultures	p. 174
Spring and Summer Of Discontent	p. 195
The Elections Of 1863 and Political Fragmentation	p. 214
Factious Politics	p. 236
Principle, Power Politics, and Peace	p. 255
National Identity The Political Cultures And War's End	p. 277
Epilogue	p. 299
Notes	p. 303
Bibliography	p. 367
Index	p. 401
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