Parties, Slavery, and the Union in Antebellum Georgia - by Anthony Gene Carey (Paperback)

About the Book

Before the Civil War, two ideological cornerstones were laid that would eventually lead to Georgia's secession: the protection of white men's liberty and the defense of African slavery. Secession, the ultimate expression of white unity, flowed logically from the values, attitudes, and antagonisms developed during these decades of political strife.

Book Synopsis

At the heart of Georgia's secession from the Union in 1861 were two ideological cornerstones--the protection of white men's liberty and the defense of African slavery--Anthony Gene Carey argues in this comprehensive, analytical narrative of the three decades leading up to the Civil War.

In Georgia, broad consensus on political essentials restricted the range of state party differences and the scope of party debate, but Whigs and Democrats battled intensely over how best to protect Southern rights and institutions within the Union. The power and security that national party alliances promised attracted Georgians, but the compromises and accommodations that maintaining such alliances required also repelled them. By 1861, Carey finds, white men who were out of time, fearful of further compromise, and compelled to choose acted to preserve liberty and slavery by taking Georgia out of the Union. Secession, the ultimate expression of white unity, flowed logically from the values, attitudes, and antagonisms developed during three decades of political strife.

Review Quotes

Essential reading for anyone attempting to understand the causes and effects of the Civil War . . . Without question this is the most complete account of party politics in Georgia before the Civil War, and it supersedes Horace Montgomery's Cracker Parties.

--Civil War History

About the Author

ANTHONY GENE CAREY is an assistant professor of history at Auburn University.