Slave Power: The Free North and Southern Domination, 1780-1860

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: A very well-written book showing in detail how US history from the Revolution through 1860 was dominated by southerners bent on defending and expanding the inhumane institution of slavery. These thugs--such as Jefferson, Monroe, Calhoun--were willing to undermine liberty and democratic principles in order to maintain slavery at the expense of blacks and whites throughout the country. It takes off the varnish of mythology of some national leaders and shows the South for what it really was--a violent, brutal and undemocratic place.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, absorbing account of South's stranglehold
Review: This is an extremely engrossing history of the (virtual) stranglehold the South maintained on the US government from the birth of America until the election of Abraham Lincoln. It is also on account of the efforts by post-war southern historians to cover up the central fact of slavery as the dominating motive in the South's wish for control. I first heard of this book when I read a (highly complimentary) review of it by James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom. If you like McPherson's book, this will seem in many ways like a "prequel," filling in the story of the run-up to the Civil War in greater depth than McPherson could devote (though he did a great job on that, too). This book blows away alot of the "Gone With The Wind" fairy tales about the South before the war, and shows, convincingly and absorbingly, the Southern States' governments conscious (and for many decades, entirely successfull) attempts to maintain its slavery interests at the expense of the North and , of course, the slaves. When the South could no longer impose its will, it opted for war. Like McPherson's writings, Alan Nolan's Lee Considered, Thomas Connelly's The Marble Man and the writings of Gary Gallagher, this book helps do away with the "Moonlight & Magnolias" view of the South that was so prevalent up until the 1950's and, for some Civil War buffs, is the only reason for their interest. Too, Leonard Richards can write, so the reading of this book is a pleasure right up there with enjoyment of the argument. I think it will appear to all general readers interested in unravelling the complexities of the Civil War and our early history. Unlike so many awful books on the Civil War, this book is intellectually stimulating.