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Book Cover for: The Confederate Republic: A Revolution Against Politics, George C. Rable

The Confederate Republic: A Revolution Against Politics

George C. Rable

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Although much has been written about the ways in which Confederate politics affected the course of the Civil War, George Rable is the first historian to investigate Confederate political culture in its own right. Focusing on the assumptions, values, and beliefs that formed the foundation of Confederate political ideology, Rable reveals how Southerners attempted to purify the political process and avoid what they saw as the evils of parties and partisanship. According to Rable, secession marked the beginning of a revolution against politics in which the Confederacy's founding fathers saw themselves as the true heirs of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, factionalism developed as the war dragged on, with Confederate nationalists emphasizing political unity and support for President Jefferson Davis's administration and libertarian dissenters warning of the dangers of a centralized Confederate government. Both sides claimed to be the legitimate defenders of a genuine Southern republicanism and of Confederate nationalism, and the conflict between them carried over from the strictly political sphere to matters of military strategy, civil religion, and education. Consulting a wide range of sources, including newspapers, sermons, contemporary textbooks, political correspondence, and military documents, Rable constructs an analytical narrative of Confederate political culture, arguing that it did more to strengthen the Confederacy than weaken it. He concludes that despite the war's outcome, the anti-political legacy of the Confederate republic had a profound impact on the future of Southern politics.

Book Details

  • Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
  • Publish Date: Feb 26th, 2007
  • Pages: 440
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.20in - 6.42in - 1.06in - 1.35lb
  • EAN: 9780807858189
  • Categories: • United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877)• United States - State & Local - South (AL,AR,FL,GA,KY,LA,MS,• General

About the Author

Rable, George C.: -

George C. Rable is the Charles G. Summersell Professor of Southern History at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He is author of Civil Wars: Women and the Crisis of Southern Nationalism and the Lincoln Prize-winning Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! (from the University of North Carolina Press).

Praise for this book

"Provides the critical launching pad for research into state politics and new studies of political culture during Reconstruction. No future study of southern politics can ignore this monumental work." -- Journal of Southwest Georgia History

"The Confederate Republic is, in all respects, a valuable contribution to the literature of the wartime South that should receive much scholarly engagement." -- Reviews in American History

"George Rable's The Confederate Republic captures the political diversity of the Confederacy at the same time [that] it effectively identifies the unifying themes of the rebel state. This beautifully written, comprehensive political history of the confederate experiment emphasizes the continuing dominance and crucial impact of antiparty sentiment in the southern republic. . . . His carefully constructed tour through the intricacies of Confederate politics is intelligently argued and masterfully executed." -- Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"Rable's spirited iconoclasm deserves serious attention. . . . [His] well-researched book positions him as a significant contributor to the ongoing debate about Civil War politics." -- American Historical Review

"George C. Rable's latest book confirms his reputation as a scholar of depth, versatility, and literary aplomb." -- Civil War History

"George Rable has written the most sophisticated analysis of Confederate politics we are likely to see for a very long time. . . . This extremely well researched book offers a breadth and depth seldom seen." -- Civil War News

"A fine book which offers refreshing and provocative answers to old questions, and stimulates debate over new questions concerning Confederate political history." -- Southern Historian

"Rable succeeds brilliantly in producing a study of political history that is both descriptive and analytical. The Confederate Republic is a welcome addition to the literature on southern politics during the war." -- Historian

"Grounded in careful and thorough research into the political history of the Confederacy, this book makes a valuable contribution through its detailed, chronological recounting and analysis of political events." -- Georgia Historical Quarterly

"In this impressively researched volume [Rable] offers an admirable interpretive synthesis of previous work on the internal tensions in both Confederate political philosophy and practice." -- Library Journal