Download or read book 1865 Alabama written by Christopher Lyle McIlwain and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed history of a vitally important year in Alabama history The year 1865 is critically important to an accurate understanding of Alabama's present. In 1865 Alabama: From Civil War to Uncivil Peace Christopher Lyle McIlwain Sr. examines the end of the Civil War and the early days of Reconstruction in the state and details what he interprets as strategic failures of Alabama's political leadership. The actions, and inactions, of Alabamians during those twelve months caused many self-inflicted wounds that haunted them for the next century. McIlwain recounts a history of missed opportunities that had substantial and reverberating consequences. He focuses on four factors: the immediate and unconditional emancipation of the slaves, the destruction of Alabama's remaining industrial economy, significant broadening of northern support for suffrage rights for the freedmen, and an acute and lengthy postwar shortage of investment capital. Each element proves critically important in understanding how present-day Alabama was forged. Relevant events outside Alabama are woven into the narrative, including McIlwain's controversial argument regarding the effect of Lincoln's assassination. Most historians assume that Lincoln favored black suffrage and that he would have led the fight to impose that on the South. But he made it clear to his cabinet members that granting suffrage rights was a matter to be decided by the southern states, not the federal government. Thus, according to McIlwain, if Lincoln had lived, black suffrage would not have been the issue it became in Alabama. McIlwain provides a sifting analysis of what really happened in Alabama in 1865 and why it happened--debunking in the process the myth that Alabama's problems were unnecessarily brought on by the North. The overarching theme demonstrates that Alabama's postwar problems were of its own making. They would have been quite avoidable, he argues, if Alabama's political leadership had been savvier.

Download or read book Civil War Alabama written by Christopher Lyle McIlwain and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2016-03-22 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In fascinating detail, Civil War Alabama reveals the forgotten breadth of political opinions and loyalties among white Alabamians during the antebellum period. The book offers a major reevaluation of Alabama's secession crisis and path to war and destruction.

Download or read book The Secessionist Impulse written by William L. Barney and published by Library of Alabama Classics. This book was released on 2004 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an outline of the economic crisis in the South based on the declining yields, increasing class stratification and higher slave prices. It supplies data on the property holdings and occupations of the elected representatives and finds the secessionists to be young, probably lawyers who were both ambitious and confident. Because the economic dislocation of the 1850s made people receptive to a rhetoric that emphasized conspiratorial abolitionists and almost paranoid fear of blacks and strangers, the politicians were able to persuade their constituents that a real crisis did exist and that secession was the only remedy.

Download or read book Federalism Secession and the American State written by Lawrence M. Anderson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-20 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One important tradition in political science conceives of the Civil War in the United States serving as the functional equivalent of the English and French Revolutions, bringing with it the victory of liberal democratic industrialism over aristocratic agriculturalism. From this perspective, the Civil War is notable for its impact on the American state. Surprisingly however, little attention has been paid to the distinguishing features of this historic rupture in American politics. Through primary source research and the re-analysis of the rich historical literature about the antebellum era and the causes of the Civil War, Lawrence A. Anderson explores the relationship between federalism and the movement for secession in the United States during the pre-civil war era. Focusing primarily on South Carolina, Anderson carefully revisits theory on institutional analysis of political development to expose what caused secession in the United States.

Download or read book A War State All Over written by Ben H. Severance and published by University Alabama Press. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth political study of Alabama’s government during the Civil War Alabama’s military forces were fierce and dedicated combatants for the Confederate cause.In his study of Alabama during the Civil War, Ben H. Severance argues that Alabama’s electoral and political attitudes were, in their own way, just as unified in their support for the cause of southern independence. To be sure, the civilian populace often expressed unease about the conflict, as did a good many of Alabama’s legislators, but the majority of government officials and military personnel displayed pronounced Confederate loyalty and a consistent willingness to accept a total war approach in pursuit of their new nation’s aims. As Severance puts it, Alabama was a “war state all over.” In A War State All Over: Alabama Politics and the Confederate Cause, Severance examines the state’s political leadership at multiple levels of governance—congressional, gubernatorial, and legislative—and orients much of his analysis around the state elections of 1863. Coming at the war’s midpoint, these elections provide an invaluable gauge of popular support for Alabama’s role in the Civil War, particularly at a time when the military situation for Confederate forces was looking bleak. The results do not necessarily reflect a society that was unreservedly prowar, but they clearly establish a polity that was committed to an unconditional Confederate victory, in spite of the probable costs. Severance’s innovative work focuses on the martial character of Alabama’s polity while simultaneously acknowledging the widespread angst of Alabama’s larger culture and society. In doing so, it puts a human face on the election returns by providing detailed character sketches of the principal candidates that illuminate both their outlook on the war and their role in shaping policy.

Download or read book The Million Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President written by Christopher McIlwain and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-07-19 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Washington Gayle is not a name known to history. But it soon will be. Forget what you thought you knew about why Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. No, it was not mere sectional hatred, Booth’s desire to become famous, Lincoln’s advocacy of black suffrage, or a plot masterminded by Jefferson Davis to win the war by crippling the Federal government. Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr.’s Untried and Unpunished: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln exposes the fallacies regarding each of those theories and reveals both the mastermind behind the plot, and its true motivation. The deadly scheme to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward was Gayle’s brainchild. The assassins were motivated by money Gayle raised. Lots of money. $20,000,000 in today’s value. Gayle, a prominent South Carolina-born Alabama lawyer, had been a Unionist and Jacksonian Democrat before walking the road of radicalization following the admission of California as a free state in 1850. Thereafter, he became Alabama’s most earnest secessionist, though he would never hold any position within the Confederate government or serve in its military. After the slaying of the president Gayle was arrested and taken to Washington, DC in chains to be tried by a military tribunal for conspiracy in connection with the horrendous crimes. The Northern press was satisfied Gayle was behind the deed—especially when it was discovered he had placed an advertisement in a newspaper the previous December soliciting donations to pay the assassins. There is little doubt that if Gayle had been tried, he would have been convicted and executed. However, he not only avoided trial, but ultimately escaped punishment of any kind for reasons that will surprise readers. Rather than rehashing what scores of books have already alleged, Untried and Unpunished offers a completely fresh premise, meticulous analysis, and stunning conclusions based upon years of firsthand research by an experienced attorney. This original, thought-provoking study will forever change the way you think of Lincoln’s assassination.

Download or read book Law s Alabama Brigade in the War Between the Union and the Confederacy written by J. Gary Laine and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lines at Suffolk, Virginia, woven into the account tell of the camp life experienced by the men and their views of the war.

Download or read book The Alabama Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Yellowhammer War written by Kenneth W. Noe and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many books about Alabama's role in the Civil War have focused serious attention on the military and political history of the war. The Yellowhammer War likewise examines the military and political history of Alabama's Civil War contributions, but it also covers areas of study usually neglected by centennial scholars, such as race, women, the home front, and Reconstruction. From Patricia A. Hoskins's look at Jews in Alabama during the Civil War and Jennifer Ann Newman Treviño's examination of white women's attitudes during secession to Harriet E. Amos Doss's study of the reaction of Alabamians to Lincoln's Assassination and Jason J. Battles's essay on the Freedman's Bureau, readers are treated to a broader canvas of topics on the Civil War and the state. CONTRIBUTORS Jason J. Battles / Lonnie A. Burnett / Harriet E. Amos Doss / Bertis English / Michael W. Fitzgerald / Jennifer Lynn Gross / Patricia A. Hoskins / Kenneth W. Noe / Victoria E. Ott / Terry L. Seip / Ben H.

Download or read book These Rugged Days written by John S. Sledge and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessibly written and dramatic account of Alabama's role in the Civil War. The Civil War has left indelible marks on Alabama's land, culture, economy, and people. Despite its lasting influence, this wrenching story has been too long neglected by historians preoccupied by events elsewhere. In These Rugged Days: Alabama in the Civil War, John S. Sledge provides a long overdue and riveting narrative of Alabama's wartime saga. Focused on the conflict's turning points within the state's borders, this book charts residents' experiences from secession's heady early days to its tumultuous end, when 75,000 blue-coated soldiers were on the move statewide. Sledge details this eventful history using an impressive array of primary and secondary materials, including official records, diaries, newspapers, memoirs, correspondence, sketches, and photographs. He also highlights such colorful personalities as Nathan Bedford Forrest, the "Wizard of the Saddle"; John Pelham, the youthful Jacksonville artillerist who was shipped home in an iron casket with a glass faceplate; Gus Askew, a nine-year-old Barbour County slave who vividly recalled the day the Yankees marched in; and Augusta Jane Evans, the young novelist who was given a gold pen by a daring blockade runner. Sledge offers a refreshing take on Alabama's contributions to the Civil War that will intrigue anyone who is interested in learning more about the state's war efforts. His narrative is a dramatic account that will be enjoyed by lay readers as well as students and scholars of Alabama and the Civil War. These Rugged Days is an enthralling tale of action, courage, pride, and tragedy, making clear the relevance of many of the Civil War's decisive moments for the way Alabamians live today.

Download or read book Civil Wars Civil Beings and Civil Rights in Alabama s Black Belt written by Bertis D. English and published by University Alabama Press. This book was released on 2020 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the 1863 elections in Perry County changed the course of Alabama's role in the Civil War In his fascinating, in-depth study, Bertis D. English analyzes why Perry county, situated in the heart of a violence-prone subregion, enjoyed more peaceful race relations and less bloodshed than several neighboring counties. Choosing an atypical locality as central to his study, English raises questions about factors affecting ethnic disturbances in the Black Belt and elsewhere in Alabama. He also uses Perry County, which he deems an anomalous county, to caution against the tendency of some scholars to make sweeping generalizations about entire regions and subregions. English contends Perry County was a relatively tranquil place with a set of extremely influential African American businessmen, clergy, politicians, and other leaders during Reconstruction. Together with egalitarian or opportunistic white citizens, they headed a successful campaign for black agency and biracial cooperation that few counties in Alabama matched. English also illustrates how a significant number of educational institutions, a high density of African American residents, and an unusually organized and informed African American population were essential factors in forming Perry's character. He likewise traces the development of religion in Perry, the nineteenth-century Baptist capital of Alabama, and the emergence of civil rights in Perry, an underemphasized center of activism during the twentieth century. This well-researched and comprehensive volume illuminates Perry County's history from the various perspectives of its black, interracial, and white inhabitants, amplifying their own voices in a novel way. The narrative includes rich personal details about ordinary and affluent people, both free and unfree, creating a distinctive resource that will be useful to scholars as well as a reference that will serve the needs of students and general readers.

Download or read book States Falling Apart written by Eva Maria Belser and published by Stämpfli Verlag. This book was released on 2015-08-24 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An increasing number of European countries are being faced with demands for greater autonomy or independence from regional groups. The legitimacy of nation states in Europe is thus being called into question not only by the forces of globalization and Europeanization from above, but also by growing pressure to recognize the autonomous or independent status of regional groups from below. From Scotland to Catalonia, from Flanders to South Tyrol, the movements vary in their intensity and demands, yet also have many commonalities. This book constitutes a compilation of papers presented at the international Conference "States Falling Apart? Secessionist and Autonomy Movements in Europe" at the University of Fribourg in 2013 and is a timely addition to the literature on secession, autonomy and federalism. With theoretical contributions and case studies, it presents a wide range of opinions and facts on these issues.

Download or read book Declarations of Independence written by James L. Erwin and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2006-11-30 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From tax rebels to religious dissidents, it's amazing that the United States of America haven't fallen apart, though it has not been for lack of trying. While the Confederate States of America is the best-known secessionist movement in our history, the South is far from the only example of Americans' declaring independence from Washington DC and the federal government. From runaway slaves to religious visionaries, from Native Americans to tax-shelter seeking wealthy, the quest for political, religious, and economic independence has been a constant force in our country over the centuries.

Download or read book A Literary History of Alabama written by Benjamin Buford Williams and published by Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. This book was released on 1979 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biographical, bibliographical, generic, critical, and chronological survey of nineteenth-century Alabama authors. Presents a vivid picture of life in the South in 19th-century America.

Download or read book The South s Forgotten Fire Eater written by Chris McIlwain and published by NewSouth Books. This book was released on 2020-12-05 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the American Civil War is typically told with particular interest in the national players behind the war: Davis, Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and their peers. However, the truth is that countless Americans on both sides of the war worked in their own communities to sway public perception of abolition, secession, and government intervention. In north Alabama, David Hubbard was an ardent and influential voice for leaving the Union, spreading his increasingly radical view of states' rights and the need to rebel against what he viewed an overreaching federal government. You have likely never heard of Hubbard, the grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier who fought under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. He was much more than that stereotype of antebellum Alabama politicians, being an early speculator in lands coerced from Native Americans; a lawyer and cotton planter; a populist; an influential member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama; and a key promoter of the very first railroad built west of the Allegheny mountains. Alabama's Forgotten Fire Eater is the story of Hubbard's radicalization, describing his rise to becoming the most influential and prominent secessionist in north Alabama. Despite growing historical interest in the "fire eaters" who whipped the South into a frenzy, there has been little mention until now of Hubbard's integral involvement in Alabama's relationship with the Confederacy. Now historian Chris McIlwain offers Hubbard's story as a cautionary tale of radical politics and its consequences.

Download or read book Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama written by Walter Lynwood Fleming and published by New York : Smith. This book was released on 1905 with total page 876 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the society and the institutions that went down during the Civil War and Reconstruction and the internal conditions of Alabama during the war. Emphasizes the social and economic problems in the general situation, as well as the educational, religious, and industrial aspects of the period.

Download or read book Portraits of Conflict written by Ben H. Severance and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tenth volume of acclaimed series