John A. Quitman: Old South Crusader (Southern Biography) [Paperback]

Robert E. May (Author)

Book Description

Series: Southern Biography | Publication Date: January 1, 1995

The first critical biography of Quitman, May's study sheds light on such current historical controversies as whether antebellum southerners were particuliarly militaristic or "antibourgeois" and helps illuminate the slave-master relations, mobility, intraregional class and geographic friction, partisan politics, and family customs of the Old South.

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807112070
• ISBN-13: 978-0807112076
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,148,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Biography of a Southern Nationalist, January 24, 2006

By 

Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John A. Quitman: Old South Crusader (Southern Biography) (Paperback)

A superb biography, "John A. Quitman: Old South Crusader" tells the story of one of the most significant of the southern "fire eaters" in the era prior to the Civil War. Born in Rhinebeck, New York, in 1798, in 1821 Quitman arrived in Natchez, Mississippi, seeking fame and fortune. He found both, for Quitman occupied the highest office in all branches of his state's government. He became an ardent Southern rights and pro-slavery advocate, and would have applauded the creation of the Confederacy had he lived to see it. As it was, he died in 1858.

During the 1836 Texas Revolution Quitman organized a military force, but saw no action. In 1846 he became a brigadier general of Mississippi militia, and won glory at the battle of Monterrey, September 20-24, 1846, and at Vera Cruz. In 1847 his division captured the fortress of Chapultec, leading to the fall of Mexico City and the conclusion of the Mexican-American war. Afterwards, Quitman continued his political career, serving as Mississippi governor and in Congress. He also supported filibustering in the Caribbean. His death from food poisoning ensured that he did not fight for the South in the Civil War.

This book was well-received when first published in 1985, and fully deserving of accolades more than twenty years after its publication. Robert E. May, professor of history at Purdue University and a longtime friend, probes in this biography the mind of pro-slavery, pro-southern nationalism by focusing on Quitman and his career. Quitman, along with Edmund Ruffin and a few others pressed the South to secede from the Union in 1860-1861 and fight the most destructive war ever undertaken on the North American continent. It also makes clear, as May's biography of Quitman states with conviction, that the Civil War was fundamentally about the place of slavery and race relations in the United States. Well-done in terms of research and presentation, "John A. Quitman: Old South Crusader" is a significant book that anyone interested in the history of Old South must read.