Description: Secession Debated is a colorful and gripping tale told in the words of the actual participants, one which sheds new light on one of the great and hitherto neglected verbal showdowns in American history. It is essential to a full understanding of the origins of the war between the states.
Review Quotes: "Outstanding primer on the 1860 Constitutional views of secession from the points of view of the Old South, seen through the lens of Georgia's outstanding statesmen."--Professor Paul Stephen Hudson, Ogelthorpe University
"Excellent little book by two first-rate scholars."--F.N. Ganey, University of Georgia"A very useful source for Georgia and southern history. Ably edited by these two fine scholars."--Ken Noe, West Georgia College"An excellent book for collateral reading and class discussion. The debate in Georgia is especially illustrative of differences among Southern leaders on secession. The editors could not have chosen a better state. I would make the book required reading and use it for a class discussion on secession."--Patrick W. Riddleberger, Southern Illinois State University at Edwardsville"Freehling and Simpson do an excellent job chronicling the level of discussion and dissention relative to secession in the South in 1860."--Thomas M. Croak, DePaul University"An invaluable aid for students of secession to examine the actual debate in the crucial state of Georgia."--Don Eloer, University of Redlands"A valuable collection of primary documents, but narrow in scope. Also--Georgia's response to secession wasn't typical of most Southern states."--T. Braun, University of Detroit, Mercy"Honest history of the period is rare--and welcome!"--J.O. Bledsoe, Confederate Society of Georgia"Bring[s] together, for the first time, the speeches given in late 1860 in Milledgeville, Georgia....Preceding each essay is a short but thorough description of the politician and his importance in the secession debate."--Library Journal"A welcome volume. Thanks to the inspired researches of two celebrated scholars, teachers and students of American History, Journalism, and Communication will have ready access to the stylized deferences, classical allusions, impassioned rhythms, and highly gendered arguments that distinguished mid-nineteenth-century American oratory. As these well-chosen selections from the Milledgeville debates attest, Southern slaveholders were smarting under a stigma of moral, economic, and demographic inferiority that most came to believe could be washed away in the blood and glory of manly, fratricidal combat. This sourcebook is ideally suited for classroom debates on the causes of the Civil War."--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, University of Florida"This excellent selection of documents gets us into the guts of the debate over secession, as manifested in a pivotal state that boasted some of the ablest political leaders in the South. And it contains a big bonus. Read with discernment, the arguments reveal much about the ways of viewing great social and political issues that could serve us well today."--Eugene D. Genovese, The University Center in Georgia"An excellent text for anyone teaching or studying the antebellum period in U.S. history. The text is comprehensive and brilliantly descriptive. This is a work I have been searching for and now gratefully have. The contentious years 1776 to 1854 could not have been better or more completely covered."--Alexander C. Niven, St. Louis University and Meramec College"Should be included in every library of U.S. history."--Florida Historical Quarterly"Thanks to Freehling and Simpson, anyone interested in the arguments for and against secession has a chance to take part. This book will serve not just historians and buffs interested in secession, but may also appeal to teachers who would like to involve their students directly in the debates that led to secession and the Civil War."--Journal of Southwest Georgia History"[A] slim collection of well-wrought arguments."--Southern Partisan