audiobook The Reconstruction of White Southern Womanhood; 1865--1895 by Jane Turner Censer in History

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In 1931; when the Nashville Banner conducted a survey to determine the "Greatest Tennesseans" to date; the state's Confederate "War Governor;" Isham G. Harris (1818--1897); ranked tenth on the list; behind such famous Tennesseans as Andrew Jackson; James K. Polk; Andrew Johnson; and Nathan Bedford Forrest. In 1976; however; when the Banner once again conducted the survey; Harris did not appear in even the top twenty-five. The result of fading memories and the death of the generation that knew him; the glaring omission of Harris's name still seemed striking and undeserved. In Isham G. Harris of Tennessee; Sam Davis Elliott offers the first published biography of this overlooked leader; establishing him as the most prominent Tennessean in the Confederacy and a dominating participant in nineteenth-century Tennessee politics. Harris grew up on the frontier in Middle Tennessee; the youngest in a large family. He left home as a teenager; and found and lost a fortune in the boom and bust times of the 1830s in Mississippi and West Tennessee. Admitted to the bar in 1841; he enjoyed almost immediate success as an attorney due to his quick intellect; aggressive nature; and native ability to influence people. He launched a political career in 1847 that lasted; with some interruption; for fifty years; during which he never lost an election. Harris rose to prominence in the 1850s as the leader of the Southern rights wing of the Democratic Party; fiercely advocating the right to hold property in slaves. He served in the Tennessee state Senate; as a U.S. congressman; and as governor during the secession crisis; when; Elliott contends; Harris used his political influence and constitutional power to trample on the state constitution to align Tennessee with the Confederacy. As governor; Harris tirelessly dedicated himself to the Confederate war effort; raising troops and money and establishing a logistical structure and armament industry. When the Federals overran large portions of Middle and West Tennessee in 1862; he attached himself to the headquarters of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. As a volunteer aide; he served each of the army's commanders on nearly every one of its famed battlefields and was deemed a possible successor to Jefferson Davis should the new republic survive.After the war; Harris went into voluntary exile in Mexico. He returned home in late 1867 and worked behind the scenes to "redeem" Tennessee from Radical rule; eventually becoming the most famous of the state's Bourbon Democrats. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1877; he held that seat until his death in 1897. He successfully used the Senate's arcane parliamentary rules to block assertions of Federal power at the expense of states' rights; but advocated imaginative application of Federal power where clearly authorized by the Constitution. The story of nineteenth-century Tennessee remains incomplete without a thorough understanding of Isham Green Harris. Elliott's exhaustive and entertaining biography provides essential reading for anyone interested in the political and military history of the Volunteer State.