The Imperiled Union: Essays on the Background of the Civil WarA collection of essays by a master historian. Amongst the subjects that Stampp tackles are the inevitability of the Civil War and the truth about why the confederacy actually died. The other essays are a mix of historiography and analysis of issues including Lincoln's role in reinforcing Fort Sumter, the impact of psychology in trading slaves, and the role of racism in the Republican Party. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 72
Page 4
... tion gives as one of its purposes the formation of " a more per- fect Union . " In 1869 , when the Supreme Court , in Texas v . White , finally rejected as untenable the case for a constitu- tional right of secession , it stressed this ...
... tion gives as one of its purposes the formation of " a more per- fect Union . " In 1869 , when the Supreme Court , in Texas v . White , finally rejected as untenable the case for a constitu- tional right of secession , it stressed this ...
Page 5
... tion in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Dec- laration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual , by the Articles ...
... tion in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Dec- laration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual , by the Articles ...
Page 6
... tion and the ratifying states destroyed the existing Union . Every state had the option of not ratifying , and as many as four might have remained independent ( as two did for a time ) while the other nine entered a new Union . The ...
... tion and the ratifying states destroyed the existing Union . Every state had the option of not ratifying , and as many as four might have remained independent ( as two did for a time ) while the other nine entered a new Union . The ...
Page 10
... tion was framed , created a Union of states — to be sure , a union with the powers of the federal government significantly aug- mented and the powers of the states curtailed , but a Union rather than a consolidated nation nonetheless ...
... tion was framed , created a Union of states — to be sure , a union with the powers of the federal government significantly aug- mented and the powers of the states curtailed , but a Union rather than a consolidated nation nonetheless ...
Page 11
... tion in the House of Representatives . The portentous " su- preme law of the land , " " necessary and proper , " and treason clauses , as well as the requirement that state officers take an oath of allegiance to the federal Constitution ...
... tion in the House of Representatives . The portentous " su- preme law of the land , " " necessary and proper , " and treason clauses , as well as the requirement that state officers take an oath of allegiance to the federal Constitution ...
Contents
3 | |
The Search for | 39 |
A Humanistic Perspective | 72 |
Race Slavery and the Republican Party | 105 |
The Republican National Convention of 1860 | 136 |
Lincoln and the Secession Crisis | 163 |
The Irrepressible Conflict | 191 |
The Southern Road to Appomattox | 246 |
Notes | 271 |
Index | 309 |
Other editions - View all
The Imperiled Union: Essays on the Background of the Civil War Kenneth M. Stampp Limited preview - 1981 |
The Imperiled Union: Essays on the Background of the Civil War Kenneth M. Stampp Limited preview - 1981 |
Common terms and phrases
abolitionism abolitionists Abraham Lincoln American antebellum antislavery argued argument Articles of Confederation asserted Basler behavior believed Caucuses of 1860 cause Civil claimed cliometrics compromise Confederacy Confederate Congress Constitution convention Craven critics cultural David debates defeat delegates Democrats disunion Douglas economic Elkins equal Eric Foner essay evidence explain fact Federalist Fogel and Engerman Foner force Fort Sumter Genovese Halstead historians Ibid institution interpretation irrepressible conflict issue laws legislatures masters ment moral nationalists Negro never North northern Old South peaceful perpetual Union personality Philadelphia Convention plantation slaves political politicians Potter President problem proslavery question race racial racist Ramsdell Randall ratification Republican party revisionism revisionist role Sambo secede secession Secession Crisis secessionists sectional conflict Seward significant slave labor Slave Power slaveholders slavery expansion social sources South Carolina southern slaves sovereignty suggested Sumter Thurlow Weed tion tional traditional United Vann Woodward vols white supremacy wrote York
Popular passages
Page 133 - That is the issue that will continue in this country, when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles— right and wrong— throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same...
Page 128 - I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races...
Page 176 - In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it.
Page 5 - Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774.
Page 253 - Its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth. that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.
Page 28 - That the United States form, for many, and for most important purposes, a single nation, has not yet been denied. In war, we are one people. In making peace, we are one people. In all commercial regulations, we are one and the same people. In many other respects, the American people are one; and the government which is alone capable of controlling and managing their interests, in all these respects, is the government of the Union.
Page 12 - I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination.
Page 29 - America has chosen to be, in many respects, and to many purposes, a nation ; and for all these purposes her government is complete ; to all these objects it is competent.
Page 15 - Virginia declare and make known that the powers granted under the Constitution being derived from the People of the United States may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression...