Description: Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi examines gender and antebellum politics, and argues that the demands of masculinity and honor with in state's antiparty political culture made secession possible. The non-institutional context of all political rhetoric caused Mississippi voters to condemn the Republicans' anti-Southern program as a personal insult, and linked men's understanding of masculinity with electoral politics, the actual mechanism for secession.
Review Quotes: "Olsen establishes his case through meticulous combing of voter records. Olsen achieves a much finer level of analysis than often seen with voting returns. The statistical material is nicely balanced with literary and anecdotal evidence, ensuring that the stories of real people are never obscured. Those interested in the mechanics of the second party system or the coming of secession with find it an important book."--The Journal of Southern History
"Olsen crafts the most thoroughly situated linkage of honor and secession yet to appear in print...[T]he best case study to date of the cultural context that stifled sectional moderation and put the nation on the high road to civil war."--Journal of the Early Republic"Well researched and carefully crafted...[M]erits the attention of historians of the late national period, particularly those interested in the South, Mississippi particularly, and the sectional crisis."--Georgia Historical Quarterly"An excellent book on both the culture of southern secession and the persistance of antiparty values in mid-nineteenth century America. What [he] says about local political culture should command the attention of political historians for some time to come."--The North Carolina Historical Review"This analysis is a useful addition to the growing corpus reinterpreting the mind and spirit of the antebellum South."--CHOICE