Author: Lawrence Henry Gipson

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-03-22

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 9780365250913

Excerpt from The Collapse of the Confederacy In taking up for consideration the factor of leadership, it may be stated, first of all, that the sharpest controversies arising out of the creation and the subsequent downfall of the confederacy have to do with the question of Jefferson Davis' capacity to direct southern affairs. It is not too much to say that practical ly every issue that confronted the south from 1849 to 1865 is most intimately connected with his name. The problem of the expansion of slavery westward; the attitude that the southern states should take toward the abolition propaganda; their atti tude toward the republican party; the momentous decision in favor of secession; the relations of the confederate government to the states within it, to the army that fought for it, to the for eign powers that might have recognized it, and to the federal government that at last overwhelmed it, can only be studied in connection with the positive and powerful influence which Mr. Davis exerted upon the course of events as a leader of southern thought.2 It should be made clear that the south had had every opportunity to study and to learn to know the man that she chose to carry her through the secession crisis. Ever since the days of the Prentiss debate in Vicksburg courtyard in 1843, he had been a marked man. It must therefore be taken for granted that when his name was brought forward in the Montgomery convention the majority of the delegates, at least, were con vinced that taking everything into consideration he was the best qualified man available for the presidency. The question arises, what type of man was Mr. Davis in the light of his presecession record? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.