Customer Reviews

Secession Debated: Georgia's Showdown in 1860

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With Georgia attempting to determine what type of flag reflects the state's soul, Freehling and Simpson's "Secession Debated: Georgia's Showdown in 1860" would be a valuable resource to every Georgian citizen. The book contains speeches and letters from individuals on both sides of the secessionist battle, after the Lincoln election. Each speech or letter is given in its entirety, with useful footnotes to explain now obscure terms or allusions. The editors also provide short biographies of the protagonists (which in some cases could have been longer). Pictures of the various authors would also have been appreciated.

The book is highly recommended. Indeed, it should be read by all Georgians prior to selecting a new flag design, lest they find themselves with symbols that reflect the worst of the state's history, instead of its best.

Prior to the War for Southern Independence, the South had its own great debate. The secession debate in Georgia was probably more important than the Lincoln-Douglas debates of a few years before; without Georgia, it is likely that the Confederate States of America would never have been formed and the War for Southern Independence would never have happened.

Collected here are the speeches of the particulars, both secessionist and Unionist Georgians. All the speeches are fascinating and enlightening, particularly the Unionist speech of Alexander Stephens, as cogent and impressive a declaration of conservative principles as has ever been written or uttered by anyone. This book is worth buying for that speech alone.

Freehling is a scholar with a track record on the history of secession, having written a history of South Carolina's Nullification Controversy. His thesis then was that nullification was the start of the secessionist movement. However this book does NOT repeat that thesis, but is a re-printing of speeches given by Unionist and secessionist Georgians at a convention called to debate secession (before Lincoln's inauguration). The historical background and biographies of the speakers are provided. This may well change your viewpoint on what motivated secession. At least it will add to your knowledge of politics of the period. Valuable stuff: primary sources!

Anyone who has read antebellum American history needs only to notice the editors of this book to see the necessity of having it and reading it. Prof. Freehling and Professor Simpson are the brightest of the stars in the history galaxy. The book brings together the unioonists and Secessionists in one short volume. The speeches are not abreviated by the editors, and are for sure a good reason for having this book. It will introduce the casual reader to the great thinkers of the separation movement in the South. We owe these two scholars a great deal for this work.

Messrs. Freehling and Simpson are to be commended for taking time out from their productive academic writing careers to produce this edition of valuable primary sources. I've had good luck assigning this text to undergraduate students at an elite university, and I think that laymen with general knowledge of the period will find that this book disproves some of the common notions about secession's causes. If you care about the War of Northern Aggression, this one's for you!

I'd urge all those interested in learning more about the cause(s) of the Civil War to get this book. A terrific read.

Secession Debated should be rquired reading for everyone, starting in high school. The book is a collection of seven speeches and public letters given or published during the Georgia secession debates in November, 1860. Like Virginia, Georgia was a pivotal state. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Loiusiana were pretty much givens when it came to secession. Had Georgia not seceded, the Deep South states would have been divided geographically, making the ultimate success of the secessionists much less viable. The speeches are approximations of the actual speeches, since there were no verbatim transcripts, often relying on newspaper accounts. Some participants preferred not to speak, but instead submitted letters. The final letter was actually printed a month later after the legislative debates had ended. The content of the secessionists arguments is enlightening. Ninety percent of the arguments are justifications for the Southern way of life -- slavery. States rights are of course part of the argument, but what is the state right that they are seeking to uphold -- the then constitutional right to own human chattel. Tariffs and the maritime laws get a brief mention, but are clearly secondary to slavery as the issue that brought about the need to secede. The secessionists argued for immediate secession by legislative vote. The cons to this argument strongly affirmed the right of southerners to own slaves in perpetuity and the right of secession, but argued that such an extreme step was premature and/or needed to be put to a vote of the people. There was no argument that slavery was archaic or immoral. Perhaps the most prescient argument comes in the final chapter, a letter written by Joseph E. Brown, later governor of Georgia. Brown pretty much accurately describes the sharecropping and tenant farming system that grew up in the South after the war. The notes by the editors provide a prelude that provides the background of each speaker and a postscript that describes the subsequent life of the speaker, a number of whom died or suffered significant wounds in the coming war. I highly recommend this book as a primary source for anyone who wants to understand the background of the war as opposed to the myth of the Lost Cause.