DOC Racisms: From the Crusades to the Twentieth Century by Francisco Bethencourt in History

Description

The Southern war for independence was ultimately lost on the battlefield; but the collapse of the home front was equally decisive. Northern opposition to the war; from the peacenik Copperheads to the New York draft riot; is a familiar story. Much less is known about the widespread Southern opposition to the Confederacy which; this book argues in a state-by-state account; led to its downfall. Dissent took many forms: the initial rejection of secession by four Southern states; secret peace organizations; Unionist guerilla bands; urban spy networks; resistance to the draft; a rising tide of desertions; food riots; and the states’ rights dogma that undermined strategic military cooperation with the government in Richmond.Anti-Confederate activity was scattered across a surprising number of towns; cities; and counties in the 11 states of the Confederacy. Opposition to secession was especially strong in the mountainous; mostly non-slaveholding sections of North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee; Georgia; Alabama; and Mississippi. Some 100;000 white Southerners enlisted in the Union army; and a state-by-state breakdown is included. Policies enacted by the Confederate Congress which favored wealthy slaveholders aggravated class disparities; and contributed to a growing disenchantment and active obstruction of the Southern cause. Each of the 11 states is examined; in order of their secession; and accounts are given of activities and organizations of Southern Unionists and their leaders; who ranged from high-society spies and a turncoat Confederate general to dirt-farmer guerrillas; propagandists; and politicians.