Henry Wiencek might wish to add to his list of loyal places western Virginia,
which later became the state of West Virginia.
Paul Finkelman
--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, OK 74104-3189
phone 918-631-3706
Fax 918-631-2194
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Constantine Gutzman wrote:
> Henry Wiencek asks an interesting question, the nub of which is, "During the
> Revolution loyalist
> Americans took up arms and joined the forces of the Crown in significant
> numbers. During the Civil War only a few distinct sections of the South,
> notably north Alabama and East Tennessee, remained loyal in spirit and deed
> to the United States. I am wondering if there was any
> significant public outcry across the South against secession." It seems to
> me that this question is flawed in its conception. The only way that one
> can say that there wasn't "any significant public outcry ... against," or
> significant armed opposition to, secession is by defining "the South" in a
> _post hoc_ way. Before the 1860-61 secession crisis, "the South" would have
> included Kentucky, Missouri, a large portion of Maryland, and the District
> of Columbia. These states/this district, which ultimately remained in the
> Union even after Lincoln's inauguration, formed a far larger proportion of
> the South than the portions of the United States dominated by Loyalists
> formed of the entire area of the United States during the Revolution.
>
> Although it is written for a lay audience, William W. Freehling's _The South
> vs. The South_ develops this point in some detail. His earlier volume, _The
> Road to Disunion_, volume 1, deals extensively with sectionalists' and
> secessionists' fear that if push came to shove, the upper South (MO, MD, DE,
> and KY) would prove disloyal to the South. If that happened, former
> secretaries of war Calhoun and Davis believed, the South would have no
> chance in an armed conflict. (Of course, they had not read Gallagher's _The
> Confederate War_, the central argument of which is that despite
> disadvantages of every kind, the South very nearly won the war. I don't
> take a side in this debate.) George Rable's _The Confederate Republic_
> explores political opposition to the Davis Administration, and to the war
> effort, particularly in NC and GA, but also in the context of the famous
> Richmond bread riot.
>
> Prof. K.R. Constantine Gutzman
> Department of History
> Western Connecticut State University
>
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