Bruce Levine
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195147629
- eISBN:
- 9780199788866
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195147629.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This book offers an illuminating account of Major-General Patrick Cleburne's fascinating and politically charged idea — that “the most courageous of our slaves” be trained as soldiers and that “every ...
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This book offers an illuminating account of Major-General Patrick Cleburne's fascinating and politically charged idea — that “the most courageous of our slaves” be trained as soldiers and that “every slave in the South who shall remain true to the Confederacy in this war” be freed. This book looks closely at such Confederate plans to arm and free slaves. It shows that by 1865, within only a year of Cleburne's proposal, which was initially rejected out of hand, Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, and Robert E. Lee had all reached the same conclusions. At that point, the idea was debated widely in newspapers and drawing rooms across the South, as more and more slaves fled to Union lines and fought in the ranks of the Union army. Eventually, the soldiers of Lee's army voted on the proposal, and the Confederate government actually enacted a version of it in March. The Army issued the necessary orders just two weeks before Appomattox, too late to affect the course of the war. The book aims to capture the voices of blacks and whites, wealthy planters and poor farmers, soldiers and officers, and newspaper editors and politicians from all across the South. In the process, it sheds light on issues such as what the Confederacy was fighting for, whether black southerners were willing to fight in large numbers in defense of the South, and what this episode foretold about life and politics in the post-war South.Less
This book offers an illuminating account of Major-General Patrick Cleburne's fascinating and politically charged idea — that “the most courageous of our slaves” be trained as soldiers and that “every slave in the South who shall remain true to the Confederacy in this war” be freed. This book looks closely at such Confederate plans to arm and free slaves. It shows that by 1865, within only a year of Cleburne's proposal, which was initially rejected out of hand, Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, and Robert E. Lee had all reached the same conclusions. At that point, the idea was debated widely in newspapers and drawing rooms across the South, as more and more slaves fled to Union lines and fought in the ranks of the Union army. Eventually, the soldiers of Lee's army voted on the proposal, and the Confederate government actually enacted a version of it in March. The Army issued the necessary orders just two weeks before Appomattox, too late to affect the course of the war. The book aims to capture the voices of blacks and whites, wealthy planters and poor farmers, soldiers and officers, and newspaper editors and politicians from all across the South. In the process, it sheds light on issues such as what the Confederacy was fighting for, whether black southerners were willing to fight in large numbers in defense of the South, and what this episode foretold about life and politics in the post-war South.
John Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774877
- eISBN:
- 9781800340053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774877.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter focuses on the Jewish barristers of Victorian and Edwardian England. The Jewish giants of the Victorian Bar, men such as George Jessel, Judah Benjamin, and Arthur Cohen, devoted ...
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This chapter focuses on the Jewish barristers of Victorian and Edwardian England. The Jewish giants of the Victorian Bar, men such as George Jessel, Judah Benjamin, and Arthur Cohen, devoted themselves to the practice of commercial and international law. They were followed by younger barristers, who likewise specialized in various aspects of commercial law or practised in the Chancery courts. Meanwhile, many of the prominent Jewish members of the Edwardian Bar were deeply involved in communal affairs and supplied much of the leadership of Anglo-Jewry. The number of Jews who held judicial office during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras was small, but between the world wars their number shrank still further, paralleling the dearth of consultant positions in teaching hospitals held by Jews with a positive Jewish identity.Less
This chapter focuses on the Jewish barristers of Victorian and Edwardian England. The Jewish giants of the Victorian Bar, men such as George Jessel, Judah Benjamin, and Arthur Cohen, devoted themselves to the practice of commercial and international law. They were followed by younger barristers, who likewise specialized in various aspects of commercial law or practised in the Chancery courts. Meanwhile, many of the prominent Jewish members of the Edwardian Bar were deeply involved in communal affairs and supplied much of the leadership of Anglo-Jewry. The number of Jews who held judicial office during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras was small, but between the world wars their number shrank still further, paralleling the dearth of consultant positions in teaching hospitals held by Jews with a positive Jewish identity.
John Y. Simon, Harold Holzer, and Dawn Vogel
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823227365
- eISBN:
- 9780823240869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823227365.003.0018
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
The tragedy of Abraham Lincoln's death gripped the North like no other event in the nation's young history. Southerners had lost their only hope for a just and magnanimous peace. However, like so ...
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The tragedy of Abraham Lincoln's death gripped the North like no other event in the nation's young history. Southerners had lost their only hope for a just and magnanimous peace. However, like so much of the story of Lincoln's assassination, this view of his death is a myth — a myth that has been manufactured. In reality, the great majority of people throughout the South rejoiced at the news of Lincoln's assassination. Contrary to the popular myth that Lincoln's death was a national tragedy, Southerners saw Lincoln's death as tyrannicide — the killing of a great tyrant. What this chapter claims is that Confederate officials were closely involved with John Wilkes Booth from the outset of his plot to remove Lincoln as president and commander in chief of the military. Confederate agents who worked for Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of State, provided key contacts to Booth along with financial assistance to help carry out his operation.Less
The tragedy of Abraham Lincoln's death gripped the North like no other event in the nation's young history. Southerners had lost their only hope for a just and magnanimous peace. However, like so much of the story of Lincoln's assassination, this view of his death is a myth — a myth that has been manufactured. In reality, the great majority of people throughout the South rejoiced at the news of Lincoln's assassination. Contrary to the popular myth that Lincoln's death was a national tragedy, Southerners saw Lincoln's death as tyrannicide — the killing of a great tyrant. What this chapter claims is that Confederate officials were closely involved with John Wilkes Booth from the outset of his plot to remove Lincoln as president and commander in chief of the military. Confederate agents who worked for Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of State, provided key contacts to Booth along with financial assistance to help carry out his operation.
