THE SLAVE POWER CONSPIRACY AND THE PARANOID STYLE

Davis, David Brion

Published by Baton Rouge LA. 1965. Louisiana State Univ. Press / The Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History

About this Item

red cloth hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. fine cond. binding tight, slightly slanted (cocked). covers clean. edges clean. 1cm tear on 1/2 title pg. otherwise contents free of markings. dustwrapper in vg cond. partially price clipped, small hole in spine, rubbed, spine chipped top & bottom, tiny edge tears. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first edition. first printing (NAP). 97p. endnotes. american history. american civil war. abolition. conspiracy theory. secret societies. ~ Prior to the Civil War both the North and South rallied energetic support for the causes of abolitionism and slavery by evoking the imagery of subversive conspiracies. In this fascinating study, Pulitzer Prize~winning author David Brion Davis examines these alleged conspiracies within the concept of the paranoid style~a psychological device for projecting various symbols of evil on an opponent to build emotional unity through a common sense of alarm and peril. Although it appeared much earlier, the author notes, conspiratorial imagery had become a formalized staple in the political rhetoric of both the North and South by the late 1850's and was appropriated by eminent statesmen and journalists as well as fanatics. Southern slaveholders claimed that abolitionists were using the fight against slavery to subvert law, order, and morality. Abolitionists preached that the nation had fallen under the dominion of an expansionist Slave Power which conspired to enslave the world. Professor Davis examines the origins of conspiratorial imagery and analyzes its impact and its broader historical implications. The author's perceptive treatment of this intriguing concept is not confined entirely to the Civil War, nor does he define the paranoid style as uniquely American. He emphasizes that actual conspiracies~from the Aaron Burr conspiracy to that of the American Communist Party~ have seldom been as significant as the movements against alleged conspiratorial groups. The Slave Power Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style represents a significant new perspective on this period of American political history. Seller Inventory # 8042105

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE SLAVE POWER CONSPIRACY AND THE PARANOID ...

Publisher: Baton Rouge LA. 1965. Louisiana State Univ. Press / The Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Edition: 1st Edition