Blood & Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest BY DONALD S. FRAZIER TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS, 376 PAGES, $14.75 – In 1860 when the Confederacy attempted to become an independent, slaveholding republic with dreams of imperial expansion, they were following… Continue Reading
This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy BY MATTHEW KARP HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 368 PAGES, $26.95 – The Antebellum South has traditionally been portrayed as regressive and sectional, defensively focused on preserving slavery in the… Continue Reading
Alexander H. Stephens, Diary entry, (June 5, 1865): Wonder and surprise have been expressed in a number of papers at the suddenness and completeness of the collapse of the Confederate Cause, etc. This wonder and surprise proceed from lack of accurate knowledge of public… Continue Reading
Earlier that summer in 1862, Lincoln had presented a draft for an emancipation proclamation, but his cabinet had advised that he wait for a Union victory in the field, in order to present it, not as a desperate war measure,… Continue Reading
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War BY JEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL OPEN COURT, 448 PAGES, $29.95 – States’ rights and secession haven’t always been synonymous with the South. In fact, in the lead up to the… Continue Reading
When doing history it can be easy to emphasize the importance of data over story, when in fact the story is essential to being able to make sense of the data. One of the temptations of overemphasizing the data can… Continue Reading
The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln-Teddy Roosevelt-Wilson How the Income Tax Transformed America BY STEVEN R. WEISMAN SIMON & SCHUSTER, 432 PAGES, $25.99 – Wars naturally consolidate and centralize government, leading to a greater flow of wealth to those in power.… Continue Reading