A Government of Our Own: The Making of the Confederacy

William C. Davis

ISBN 10: 0029077354 / ISBN 13: 9780029077351

Published by Free Press, New York, 1994

About this Item

CV6 - A first edition (complete numberline) hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by author to previous owner on title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket has some wrinkling and crease on the edges, some scattered scratches, rubbing and scuffing, light discoloration and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners, cupping on the spine, label adhered on the front free endpaper, light discoloration and shelf wear. "A Gorverment of Our Own" is both a great story and a fascinating political study. With vivid strokes, Davis reveals the deep political indebtedness of the South to the nation as a whole, an irony that in turn reminds us how tragic was the war that followed. 9.5"x6.5", 550 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # ec50187

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Government of Our Own: The Making of the ...

Publisher: Free Press, New York

Publication Date: 1994

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Chronicling four decisive months in 1861, the unique story of the birth of a nation within a nation examines the leaders of the Confederacy--from those who wanted war to those who wanted reconciliation--and their struggle to form a southern nation.

From Kirkus Reviews:

An authoritative account from Civil War historian Davis (Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour, 1991) of the would-be Founding Fathers of the Confederacy. In February 1861, delegates from six states in the Deep South met in Montgomery, Ala., to form their own nation. Despite constant invocations of the spirit of 1776, their movement, in their own view, aimed at reform rather than revolution. Davis (no relation to the Confederate president) traces how the delegates hammered out a constitution that protected slavery, selected Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens as provisional president and vice president, and erected the jerry-built governmental apparatus that would turn their dreams of secession into reality. They were a varied lot, from ``fire-eaters'' who expected a swift, comparatively bloodless separation from the Union, to reluctant secessionists who correctly feared a slaughter. By May 1861, when the capital was moved to Richmond, Va., the seeds of the new government's destruction had already been planted. Davis disputes the often-suggested epitaph for the Confederacy, ``Died of States Rights,'' but his own account demonstrates that the correct label might better read, ``Died of States Rights and Swollen Egos.'' However idealistic the delegates might have been initially, by the time they moved to Richmond they were already beginning to regard Jefferson Davis with suspicion, arrogance, and frustrated ambition. Believing that ``the finest statesmen the South had to offer composed that Provisional Congress,'' William Davis is more charitable than the group deserves, and his narrative moves slowly. But he makes fine use of hundreds of often previously unpublished letters, diaries, and memoirs, and he deftly captures the capital's climate as officeholders, office seekers, lobbyists, businessmen, and transients joined the mosquitoes in infesting Montgomery. Despite its flaws, a useful history of a relatively undercovered aspect of the Civil War. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.