Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Titre(s) : The U.S. Constitution & secession [Texte imprimé] : a documentary anthology of slavery and White supremacy / edited by Dwight T. Pitcaithley ; foreword by Sanford Levinson
Publication : Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, copyright [2018]
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (xx, 364 pages) ; 24 cm
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references p. 345-349 and index
"Five months after the election of Abraham Lincoln, which had revealed the fracturing
state of the nation, Confederates fired on Fort Sumter and the fight for the Union
began in earnest. This documentary reader offers a firsthand look at the constitutional
debates that consumed the country in those fraught five months. Day by day, week by
week, these documents chart the political path, and the insurmountable differences,
that led directly--but not inevitably--to the American Civil War. At issue in these
debates is the nature of the U.S. Constitution with regard to slavery. Editor Dwight
Pitcaithley provides expert guidance through the speeches and discussions that took
place over Secession Winter (1860-1861)--in Congress, eleven state conventions, legislatures
in Tennessee and Kentucky, and the Washington Peace Conference of February, 1861.
The anthology brings to light dozens of solutions to the secession crisis proposed
in the form of constitutional amendments--90 percent of them carefully designed to
protect the institution of slavery in different ways throughout the country. And yet,
the book suggests, secession solved neither of the South's primary concerns: the expansion
of slavery into the western territories and the return of fugitive slaves. What emerges
clearly from these documents, and from Pitcaithley's incisive analysis, is the centrality
of white supremacy and slavery--specifically the fear of abolition--to the South's
decision to secede. Also evident in the words of these politicians and statesmen is
how thoroughly passion and fear, rather than reason and reflection, drove the decision
making process." ; "The re-telling of the fateful five months between Lincoln's election
and the firing on Fort Sumter that started the American Civil War is often compressed
in order to get on with the dramatic story of the war itself. Designed as a documentary
reader for college-level courses, Secession Revealed provides a treasure trove of
primary sources that take readers day by day and week by week through the constitutional
debates over slavery and slaveholders' rights that culminated in secession. Disagreements
over the return of fugitive slaves, the protection of slavery in the western territories,
and the carrying of slaves into free states and territories were the three major issues
on the table. The inability of the country to resolve these different perceptions
of constitutional authority and rights led to the secession of the South and the onset
of war in the spring of 1861. Reader Tim Huebner said, "If there are any lessons the
reader takes away from the editor's introduction, they are that slavery and white
supremacy drove the South's decision to secede and that the decision making process
involved a great deal more passion and fear than reason and reflection.""
Autre(s) auteur(s) : Pitcaithley, Dwight T. (1944-....)
Autre(s) forme(s) du titre :
- Autre forme du titre : the United States Constitution and secession
Sujet(s) : Histoire constitutionnelle -- États-Unis -- 19e siècle
Sécession -- États-Unis (sud) -- 19e siècle
Esclavage -- Droit -- États-Unis -- 19e siècle
États-Unis -- 1861-1865 (Guerre de Sécession) -- Origines
Genre ou forme : Sources
Indice(s) Dewey :
342.730 87309 (23e éd.) = Juridiction sur les groupes ethniques et nationaux - États-Unis - Histoire
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9780700626250. - ISBN 0700626255. - ISBN 9780700626267. - ISBN 0700626263. -
ISBN 9780700626274 (erroné)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb466419555
Notice n° :
FRBNF46641955
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
Table des matières : James Buchanan and John J. Crittenden ; Declarations of Secession ; U.S. House
of Representatives, Journal of the Committee of Thirty-Three ; Proposals to Amend
the U.S. Constitution ; Three Congressional Speeches.