Confederates against the Confederacy : essays on leadership and loyalty / Jon L. Wakelyn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wakelyn, Jon L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Politicians--Confederate States of America.

Politicians.

Upper class--Confederate States of America--Political activity.

Upper class.

Unionists (United States Civil War)--Confederate States of America.

Unionists (United States Civil War).

Allegiance--Confederate States of America.

Allegiance.

Political leadership--Confederate States of America.

Political leadership.

Confederate States of America--Politics and government.

Confederate States of America.

Confederate States of America--Social conditions.

Confederate States of America--Military policy.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Public opinion.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (197 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Far from being a monolith with unanimous leadership loyalty to the cause of a separate nation, the Confederacy was in reality deeply divided over how to achieve independence. Many supposedly loyal leaders, civilian as well as elected officials, opposed governmental policies on the national and state levels, and their actions ultimately influenced non-support for military policies. Congressional differences over arming the slaves and bureaucratic squabbles over how to conduct the war disrupted the government and Cabinet of President Jefferson Davis. Rumors of such irreconcilable differences spread throughout the South, contributing to an overall decline in morale and support for the war effort and causing the Confederacy to come apart from within. When asked to make sacrifices, civilian leaders found themselves caught in the dilemma of either aiding the Confederacy or losing money through poor utilization of slave labor. To sustain profits, the business and planter classes often traded with the enemy. Upon consideration of arming the slaves, many members of Congress proclaimed that the war effort was not worth the demise of slavery and preferred instead to take their chances with the Northern government. Cultural leaders, clergy, newspapermen, and men of letters claimed their loyalty to the war effort, but often criticized government policies in public. By asking for financial support and instituting a military draft, the national government infuriated local patriots who wanted to defend their own states more than they desired to defeat the enemy.

Contents:

Cover

Confederates against the Confederacy

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 The Changing Loyalties of James Henry Hammond

2 Fears for the Future: A Consideration of Reluctant Confederates' Arguments against Secession, the Confederacy, and Civil War

3 The Speakers of the State Legislatures' Failure as Confederate Leaders

4 Disloyalty in the Confederate Congress: The Character of Henry Stuart Foote

5 The Contributions of the Southern Episcopal Church to Confederate Unity and Morale

6 "Personal Remarks Are Hazardous on a Crowded Riverboat": Mary Boykin Chesnut and the Gossipon Confederate Divisiveness

7 A Consideration of the Causes and Effects of Slave States' Leaders' Disloyalty to the Confederacy

Notes

Essay on Sources

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9798400630262

9780313010774

0313010773

OCLC:

614683133