The Development of Southern Sectionalism, 1819-1848

Includes: The South, 1819--1848: A Critical Essay on Recent Works by Edwin A. Miles, 1968. This book is Volume V of A History of the South, a ten-volume series designed to present a thoroughly balanced history of all the complex aspects of the South's culture from 1607 to the present. Like its companion volumes, The Development of Southern Sectionalism was written by an outstanding student of Southern history. What caused the South's growing self-consciousness as a region? Professor Sydnor here deals with two major aspects of the problem. One is the internal development of the South. Sydnor's analysis of local and state governments provides the clue to the mainsprings of political action, and he studies the motives behind programs for economic and humanitarian reform, the trends in education, slave trading, the Indian removal, and westward expansion. The other more somber theme is the deterioration of the South's relationship to the nation: the loss of its position of political leadership, its attempts to invent political defenses for its minority position, and the gradual substitution of a sectional for a national patriotism. In this period were laid the foundations for the fateful conflict that was to follow. Sydnor's thoughtful study suggests fresh interpretations for the Missouri Compromise, the origins and significance of nullification; and his deep insight into the development of sectionalism during the 1820s makes this volume indispensable to an understanding of the South.