The Confederate republic : a revolution against politics / George C. Rable.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rable, George C.

Series:

Civil War America

Civil War America The Confederate republic

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political culture--Confederate States of America.

Political culture.

Confederate States of America--Politics and government.

Confederate States of America.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 416 p., [12] p. of plates ) ill., ports ;

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1994.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Although much has been written about the ways in which Confederate politics affected the course of the Civil War, George Rable is the first historian to investigate Confederate political culture in its own right. Focusing on the assumptions, values, and beliefs that formed the foundation of Confederate political ideology, Rable reveals 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 as the war dragged on, with Confederate nationalists emphasizing political unity and support for President Jefferson Davis's administration and libertarian dissenters warning of the dangers of a centralized Confederate government. Both sides claimed to be the legitimate defenders of a genuine Southern republicanism and of Confederate nationalism, and the conflict between them carried over from the strictly political sphere to matters of military strategy, civil religion, and education. Consulting a wide range of sources, including newspapers, sermons, contemporary textbooks, political correspondence, and military documents, Rable constructs an analytical narrative of Confederate political culture, arguing that it did more to strengthen the Confederacy than weaken it. He concludes that despite the war's outcome, the anti-political legacy of the Confederate republic had a profound impact on the future of Southern politics.

Contents:

Ch. 1. The Old South: A Political Culture in Crisis

Ch. 2. Through a Glass Darkly: Secession and the Future of Southern Politics

Ch. 3. The Crisis of Southern Constitutionalism

Ch. 4. Establishing Political Legitimacy

Ch. 5. A New Political Universe

Ch. 6. Origins of Political Crisis

Ch. 7. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures, Desperate Politics

Ch. 8. Internal Stresses of War

Ch. 9. The Two Political Cultures

Ch. 10. Spring and Summer of Discontent

Ch. 11. The Elections of 1863 and Political Fragmentation

Ch. 12. Factious Politics

Ch. 13. Principle, Power, Politics, and Peace

Ch. 14. National Identity, the Political Cultures, and War's End.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 367-400) and index.

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

9798890864734

9780807863961

0807863963