The Men of Secession and Civil War, 1859-1861

by Abrahamson, James L.

• ISBN13: 9780842028196
• ISBN10: 0842028196
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

This compelling, highly readable book focuses on the men who shaped the events that led to secession and the Civil War. Secessionists tore at the bonds that bound Americans to one another and their government as they maligned Northerners and found siniste

Table of Contents

Introduction	xv
Chronology	xix
Cast of Characters: The Men of Secession and War	xxiii
PART ONE Prelude to Disunion	1	(30)
John Brown, Salmon Chase, and the Southern Response to American Antislavery	3	(14)
George Fitzhugh, Roger Taney, and the Northern Response to Southern Proslavery	17	(14)
PART TWO The Secession Campaign	31	(84)
Barnwell Rhett, the Fire-Eaters, and Southern Independence	33	(16)
Stephen Douglas, William Yancey, and the Collapse of the Democratic Party	49	(16)
The Men of the West and the Election of 1860	65	(16)
Alexander Stephens, Deep South Secession, and the Failure of Southern Unionism	81	(20)
Jefferson Davis and the Formation of the Cotton Confederacy	101	(14)
PART THREE The Road to War	115	(50)
John Crittenden and the Failure of Compromise	117	(16)
Abraham Lincoln, Fort Sumter, and the Union	133	(16)
Andrew Johnson, John Letcher, and Secession in the Upper South	149	(16)
Epilogue: Some Thoughts on Alternatives and Consequences	165	(8)
Bibliographical Essay and Recommended Readings	173	(6)
Index	179