The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government: Abridged for the Modern Reader [Hardcover]

Jefferson Davis (Author), Earl Schenck Miers (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1971

The object of this work has been from historical data to show that the Southern States had rightfully the power to withdraw from a Union into which they had, as sovereign communities, voluntarily entered; that the denial of that right was a violation of the letter and spirit of the compact between the States; and that the war waged by the Federal Government against the seceding States was in disregard of the limitations of the Constitution, and destructive of the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 573 pages
• Publisher: Gloucester, Peter Smith; Abridged edition (June 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844600741
• ISBN-13: 978-0844600741
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,351,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read, February 16, 2010

By 

John R. Olson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (Kindle Edition)

Constitutional issues are explored in depth. This is not a book about the various battles of the Civil War but an in depth analysis of the causes and the philosophy. A must read for the serious historian. Originally this was in several volumes but Kindle has combined all into one. Superb!!!!

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the publisher, February 21, 2010

By 

B. Wilson "Mundus Publishing" (Mountains of PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (Kindle Edition)

This title took me a long time to get right. I had to take out all of the numbered pages (450+) and put them all together with links to their respective chapters. I'm glad someone liked it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting epitaph for Jefferson Davis, August 25, 2011

By 

Alan F. Sewell - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (Kindle Edition)

Jefferson Davis is one of the enigmas of our history. His epitaph might read something like: "The Failed Leader of the Lost Cause." He is generally portrayed as a crotchety old man of bad temper whose constant feuding with subordinates over petty issues distracted the Confederacy during its fight for life. Sam Houston famously said, "A drop of Jeff Davis' blood would freeze a frog."

And yet the Southern people chose this man above all others to be their President. He seems to have been enormously well respected in the South for his military career in the Mexican War and for his efficient administration of the War Department during Franklin Pierce's administration. As a Senator he was admired for his logic and oratory. Most Southerners who knew him spoke and wrote well of him. Those few who actively despised him were known for stirring up controversies themselves.

No question but that Davis was a complex character. He was no rabid Yankee-hater. He loved every inch of the United States, including the Northern States. Before the war he was one of the few Southerners cheered by Yankee crowds when he spoke in Northern cities like Boston and Portland. He urged patience with the Union at a time when many Southern hotheads were agitating for secession. Yet he also believed in State Sovereignty, the theory that any state had the unquestioned lawful right to leave the Union at any time that a majority of its people decided that the Federal Government no longer suited them. In the end State Sovereignty trumped Davis' unionism. When Davis became convinced that the majority of Mississippians desired to leave the Union he became a leader of the Secessionists.

Despite presiding over a lost war, Davis remained immensely popular in the South until the end of his days. And although many Yankees sung "Hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree" there were others like Horace Greely who befriended Davis and offered to pay his legal expenses if the Federal Government put him on trial for treason. He seems to have been remarkably well liked for a "crotchety, self-centered old fogy who lost a war that was fought for the awful cause of destroying the Union and preserving slavery."

Davis' character thus shows many contradictions. I think the best way to resolve these contradictions is to read this book and listen as Davis speaks for himself. Davis was indeed wedded to an archaic belief system of State Sovereignty and Slavery. But his book also makes clear that the cardboard-character image of him as a stubborn and pompous pettifogger and military martinet is also wide of the mark.

I came away with the impression that Jefferson Davis operated upon the principles of selflessness, due consideration for others' opinions, military competence, and fortitude in purpose that might have destined him to be remembered as a great leader --- IF he had led any cause other than the creation of a slave-holding confederation of states. IMO after reading this book my feeling is that a fitting epitaph for Jefferson Davis would be: "A leader of many virtues who was deceived by the current of his times into fighting for archaic ideals."

btw. I wrote about Jefferson Davis in my Civil War novel Fire in the Heartland before reading Jefferson Davis' book. I portrayed Davis as a thoughtful and competent leader of the Confederate States (without passing judgment on the worthiness of the cause). After reading this book I am confirmed in my original estimation of Davis' competence, again without endorsing the cause of State Sovereignty and perpetuation of slavery that he led.