The U.S. Constitution & secession : a documentary anthology of slavery and white supremacy

ISBN: 0700626263
ISBN: 9780700626267
Physical Description: xx, 364 pages ; 24 cm print
Publisher: Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2018]

U.S. Constitution and secession

Summary: "The re-telling of the fateful five months between Lincoln's election and the firing on Fort Sumter that started the American Civil War is often compressed in order to get on with the dramatic story of the war itself. Designed as a documentary reader for college-level courses, Secession Revealed provides a treasure trove of primary sources that take readers day by day and week by week through the constitutional debates over slavery and slaveholders' rights that culminated in secession. Disagreements over the return of fugitive slaves, the protection of slavery in the western territories, and the carrying of slaves into free states and territories were the three major issues on the table. The inability of the country to resolve these different perceptions of constitutional authority and rights led to the secession of the South and the onset of war in the spring of 1861. Reader Tim Huebner said, "If there are any lessons the reader takes away from the editor's introduction, they are that slavery and white supremacy drove the South's decision to secede and that the decision making process involved a great deal more passion and fear than reason and reflection.""--

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-349) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	James Buchanan and John J. Crittenden -- Declarations of Secession -- U.S. House of Representatives, Journal of the Committee of Thirty-Three -- Proposals to Amend the U.S. Constitution -- Three Congressional Speeches.