Reluctant Confederates: Upper South Unionists in the Secession Crisis

by Daniel W. Crofts

Overview

Daniel Crofts examines Unionists in three pivotal southern states—Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee—and shows why the outbreak of the war enabled the Confederacy to gain the allegiance of these essential, if ambivalent, governments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469617015
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	07/02/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	531
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Daniel W. Crofts is professor of history at Trenton State College.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Crofts's study focuses on Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, but it includes analyses of the North and Deep South as well. As a result, his volume presents the views of all parties to the sectional conflict and offers a vivid portrait of the interaction between them.—American Historical Review



Refocuses our attention on an important but surprisingly neglected group—the Unionists of the upper South during the secession crisis, who have been too readily ignored by other historians.—Journal of Southern History Daniel Crofts examines Unionists in three pivotal southern states—Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee—and shows why the outbreak of the war enabled the Confederacy to gain the allegiance of these essential, if ambivalent, governments.

Editorial Reviews

Crofts’s study focuses on Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, but it includes analyses of the North and Deep South as well. As a result, his volume presents the views of all parties to the sectional conflict and offers a vivid portrait of the interaction between them.”—American Historical Review

“Refocuses our attention on an important but surprisingly neglected group—the Unionists of the upper South during the secession crisis, who have been too readily ignored by other historians.”—Journal of Southern History

“Reluctant Confederates tells us much about the political diversity of the Old South, and, especially in conjunction with important new works by Lacy Ford and John Inscoe, illuminates the ideas and social practices that nonetheless united it. . . . [An] important book explores topics usually ignored and discovers cautionary lessons for presentist historians.”—Civil War History

“An important new work . . . Most studies on the secession have concentrated on the Lower South, then quickly added the reluctant states after the war began. This study adds a great deal of information about the three states on which it focuses. It deserves to be read by anyone who has an interest in the fateful secession crisis.”—Journal of American History

From the Publisher