Secession Winter

When the Union Fell Apart

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
Cover of the book Secession Winter by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon, Johns Hopkins University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon ISBN: 9781421408972
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Publication: May 1, 2013
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
ISBN: 9781421408972
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication: May 1, 2013
Imprint:
Language: English

Politicians and opinion leaders on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line struggled to formulate coherent responses to the secession of the deep South states. The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in mid-April 1861 triggered civil war and the loss of four upper South states from the Union. The essays by three senior historians in Secession Winter explore the robust debates that preceded these events.

For five months in the winter of 1860–1861, Americans did not know for certain that civil war was upon them. Some hoped for a compromise; others wanted a fight. Many struggled to understand what was happening to their country. Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, and Elizabeth R. Varon take approaches to this period that combine political, economic, and social-cultural lines of analysis. Rather than focus on whether civil war was inevitable, they look at the political process of secession and find multiple internal divisions—political parties, whites and nonwhites, elites and masses, men and women. Even individual northerners and southerners suffered inner conflicts.

The authors include the voices of Unionists and Whig party moderates who had much to lose and upcountry folk who owned no slaves and did not particularly like those who did. Barney contends that white southerners were driven to secede by anxiety and guilt over slavery. Varon takes a new look at Robert E. Lee's decision to join the Confederacy. Cook argues that both northern and southern politicians claimed the rightness of their cause by constructing selective narratives of historical grievances.

Secession Winter explores the fact of contingency and reminds readers and students that nothing was foreordained.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Politicians and opinion leaders on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line struggled to formulate coherent responses to the secession of the deep South states. The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in mid-April 1861 triggered civil war and the loss of four upper South states from the Union. The essays by three senior historians in Secession Winter explore the robust debates that preceded these events.

For five months in the winter of 1860–1861, Americans did not know for certain that civil war was upon them. Some hoped for a compromise; others wanted a fight. Many struggled to understand what was happening to their country. Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, and Elizabeth R. Varon take approaches to this period that combine political, economic, and social-cultural lines of analysis. Rather than focus on whether civil war was inevitable, they look at the political process of secession and find multiple internal divisions—political parties, whites and nonwhites, elites and masses, men and women. Even individual northerners and southerners suffered inner conflicts.

The authors include the voices of Unionists and Whig party moderates who had much to lose and upcountry folk who owned no slaves and did not particularly like those who did. Barney contends that white southerners were driven to secede by anxiety and guilt over slavery. Varon takes a new look at Robert E. Lee's decision to join the Confederacy. Cook argues that both northern and southern politicians claimed the rightness of their cause by constructing selective narratives of historical grievances.

Secession Winter explores the fact of contingency and reminds readers and students that nothing was foreordained.

More books from Johns Hopkins University Press

Cover of the book Lure of the Arcane by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book The Challenge of Independent Colleges by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book The New Politics of Old Age Policy by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Romantic Sobriety by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book A Cinema of Poetry by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Governed by a Spirit of Opposition by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Contested Conventions by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Knowledge Games by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Travels through American History in the Mid-Atlantic by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Blue Marble Health by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Dying and Living in the Neighborhood by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Shadow Traffic by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book The Vegetarian Imperative by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
Cover of the book Hell Before Their Very Eyes by Robert J. Cook, William L. Barney, Elizabeth R. Varon
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy