Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia

408 Pages·2003·2.79 MB·English

by  William A. Link

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Roots of Secession
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Civil War America
 . , 
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ROOTS
OF SECESSION
SLAVERY AND POLITICS IN
ANTEBELLUM VIRGINIA
WILLIAM A. LINK
The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill and London
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© 2003 The University ofNorth Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Designed by April Leidig-Higgins
Set in Ehrhardt by Copperline Book Services,Inc.
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
This book was published with the assistance ofthe William Rand Kenan Jr.
Fund ofthe University ofNorth Carolina Press.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
ofthe Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity ofthe
Council on Library Resources.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Link,William A.
Roots ofsecession:slavery and politics in antebellum Virginia /
by William A.Link. p.cm.—(Civil War America)
0-8078-2771-1 (alk.paper)
1.Slaves—Virginia—Political activity—History—19th century. 2.African
Americans—Virginia—Politics and government—19th century. 3.Government,
Resistance to—Virginia—History—19th century. 4.Passive resistance—
Virginia—History—19th century. 5.Secession—Virginia. 6.Virginia—
History—1775–1865. 7.Virginia—Politics and government—1775–1865.
8.Slavery—Political aspects—Virginia—History—19th century.
9.Virginia—Race relations—Political aspects—History—19th century.
10.United States—History—Civil War,1861–1865—Causes.
I.Title. II.Series.
445.856 2003 973.7'11—dc21 2002013316
A portion ofthis work appeared earlier,in somewhat different form,as
“The Jordan Hatcher Case:Politics and ‘A Spirit ofInsubordination’in
Antebellum Virginia,”Journal ofSouthern History64 (November 1998):
615–48,and is reprinted here with permission.
07 06 05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1
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For my brothers and sister
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       
Preface xiii
Introduction 1

To Make Ourselves Slaves,That You Might Defend Yours:
Slavery and Constitutional Reform
11
 
A Slave Society:Virginia in the 1850s
29
 
Boastful and Belligerent Champions ofSouthern Institutions:
Slavery and Politics,1851–1854
63
 
A Uniform Spirit ofLawlessness:
The Problem ofRunaways
97
 
A Spirit ofLicense in the Guise ofLiberty:
The Survival ofOpposition,1854–1856
121
 
The Darkest and Most Perilous Hours ofOur National Existence:
The Deepening Sectional Crisis,1856–1859
149
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viii 
 
A Black Demon ofFanaticism:
Harpers Ferry and the Election of1860
177
 
To Light the Torch ofServile Insurrection:
The Secession Crisis
213

The Rending ofVirginia
245
Notes 255
Bibliography 353
Index 373
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                  

Henry Ruffner 12
John Minor Botts 22
Slave hiring 39
Broadside,1845 48
O.Jennings Wise 71
Charles J.Faulkner 73
Beverly B.Douglas 75
Joseph Mayo 86
Runaway notice,1854 101
Looking for runaways on a Norfolk steamer 102
Robert M.T.Hunter 130
John Moncure Daniel 135
John Buchanan Floyd 137
Muscoe R.H.Garnett 141
Roger A.Pryor 170
John Brown after his capture 181
Henry A.Wise 183
John Letcher 193
Waitman T.Willey 231