Antebellum

This is Volume 1 of a three-volume set of books. There have been many books written about the War (1861-65). The starting point for most of these books has been war-time and immediate post-war propaganda and rationalization of the Northern view of the War. Generally, the theme has been to glorify Abraham Lincoln and discredit the Confederacy. Unfortunately, this theme has been most simplistically followed in public school textbooks and even college-level general history books. By the 21st Century, American students (North and South) have been so thoroughly brainwashed over several generations that there is a public outcry to erase all Confederate iconography. But the facts are out there, and I have spent over two years trying to understand why the southern States seceded from the Union and why there was a War. Let me make it clear at this point, that my focus here is the antebellum period. The War was a bitter and disastrous defeat for the South and in that painful post-war period the relationships among southerners (European and African) changed drastically and there have been events that no southerner can be happy about. The point is that, the War (not the antebellum South) produced many of the ugly racial stereotypes that dominate social and political discourse today. In my firm opinion, if there not been a War, things would be much different and much better. An element in this story is the near complete self-absolution of the North from (i) any responsibility for slavery in North America; (ii) any role in provoking secession of the southern states; (iii) any role in initiating the War; (iii) any criminal conduct during the War; and (iv) any role in provoking racial bias and conflict in the post-war South. This book only deals with items (i) and (ii). A few books have appeared that consider these facts from a southern viewpoint. Unfortunately, most of them are personal essays that only appeal to southerners who already hold these views. In this book, I hope to provide the tools and data that will convince reasonable people of the opinions I have formed from my research. In particular, roughly 40% of the 700 pages of this book are verbatim copies of original historical documents. I do not expect my readers to believe me. I want you to read the documents and draw your own conclusions and if you think I have manipulated the documents, please refer to the citations I have provided. Finally, I have already written and published a book describing the events between the election of Abraham Lincoln (November 1860) and the exchange of cannon fire at Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina (April 1861). I now, do not regard these events are the initiation of the War, it need not have done that. What I now see is that the best title for the War is "The War to Prevent Southern Independence." This name was coined by Charles T. Pace and if you read this book, I think you will find justification for the view that I now take.