The men of secession and Civil War, 1859-1861

Introduction

Chronology

Cast of characters: the men of secession and the war

Prelude to disunion

John Brown, Salmon Chase, and the Southern response to American antislavery

George Fitzhugh, Roger Taney, and the Northern response to Southern proslavery

The secession campaign

Barnwell Rhett, the fire-eaters, and Southern independence

Stephen Douglas, William Yancey, and the collapse of the Democratic Party

The men of the West and the election of 1860

Alexander Stephens, Deep South secession, and the failure of Southern unionism

Jefferson Davis and the formation of the Cotton Confederacy

The road to war

John Crittenden and the failure of compromise

Abraham Lincoln, Fort Sumter, and the Union

Andrew Johnson, John Letcher, and secession in the Upper South

Epilogue: some thoughts on alternatives and consequences

Bibliographical essay and recommended readings

Index.