Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum

Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia (Civil War America)

Offering a provocative new look at the politics of secession in antebellum Virginia, William Link places African Americans at the center of events and argues that their acts of defiance and rebellion had powerful political repercussions throughout the turbulent period leading up to the Civil War.

An upper South state with nearly half a million slaves--more than any other state in the nation--and some 50,000 free blacks, Virginia witnessed a uniquely volatile convergence of slave resistance and electoral politics in the 1850s. While masters struggled with slaves, disunionists sought to join a regionwide effort to secede and moderates sought to protect slavery but remain in the Union. Arguing for a definition of political action that extends beyond the electoral sphere, Link shows that the coming of the Civil War was directly connected to Virginia's system of slavery, as the tension between defiant slaves and anxious slaveholders energized Virginia politics and spurred on the impending sectional crisis.

Country	USA
Author	William A. Link
Binding	Paperback
Brand	Brand: University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill
EAN	9780807856611
Feature	Used Book in Good Condition
ISBN	0807856614
Label	The University of North Carolina Press
Manufacturer	The University of North Carolina Press
MPN	19 illustrations, 16 tables, 4 maps, not
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	416
PartNumber	19 illustrations, 16 tables, 4 maps, not
PublicationDate	2005-08-29
Publisher	The University of North Carolina Press
SKU	HY327922
Studio	The University of North Carolina Press
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia (Civil War America)