When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession

Book Description

Using primary documents from both foreign and domestic observers, prominent scholar Charles Adams makes a powerful and convincing case that the Southern states were legitimately exercising their political rights as expressed in the Declaration of Independence when they seceded from the United States. Although conventional histories have taught generations of Americans that this was a war fought for lofty moral principles, Adams' eloquent history transcends simple Southern partisanship to show how the American Civil War was primarily a battle over competing commercial interests, opposing interpretations of constitutional rights, and what English novelist Charles Dickens described as a fiscal quarrel.

Customer Reviews:

Poorly Documented, Lack of Analysis or Insight.......2007-08-12

I've never seen such poor research from a so-called historian. How would you interpret such inanity as the following: When he discusses the KKK, Adams concludes "Now the threat of a black-Yankee takeover of the South was over. The Klan continued because the Yankees did not completely disappear." Maybe that was a very minor motivation for the Klan's existence, but the author should go on to explain why racism was NOT the main motivation for its activity. Adams acts as if racism is a minor side note. My response to him is, if the KKK was primarily there to stop the Yankees, why weren't Yankees being lynched left and right as the blacks were? The historian goes on to display his idiocy, claiming that even "ardent abolitionists" regarded blacks as an inferior race (p.159). Does he follow this bold claim by providing historical evidence, perhaps from the writings of ACTUAL abolitionists? Of course not! There are these things called primary documents and sources. Mr. Adams, you might want to try using them once in a while.

This book raises serious questions about the "real" Lincoln.......2007-07-30

I am a northerner, whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. between 1895 and 1914. I was taught that Lincoln was the greatest president in U.S. history because he preserved the Union. So when a friend suggested that I read this book, I was intrigued. I will try to present the book's strengths and weaknesses in an objective manner.

There are two significant weaknesses, and they are obvious. The author states on page 52 that Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and that over 10,000 people were arrested and held without trial. He cites many sources of people who complained about the arrests. But Mr. Adams names only two (Messrs. Merryman and Vallandigham) and the Maryland state legislature and its Southern sympathizers (51). This total of 53 is less than 1% of 10,000. Mr. Adams would have solidified his argument if he had quoted several references to help him reach 10,000.

Similarly, the author states that Lincoln shut down over 300 newspapers that opposed his policies. But on page 41, Mr. Adams names only 16 specific papers. He does quote one source that said, "scores" were shut down, but scores could be 100 (five score). Where are the rest? There are no references.

The second weakness is that the book repeatedly wanders from the topic. Chapter 1 discusses the history of secession, but the 10th Amendment is mentioned only in Chapter 12 (page 181). There are others: Chapters 2 and 4 cover tariffs and trade (the main reason for the war), but specific statements in Chapters 5 and 6 should have been mentioned in Chapters 2 or 4, and then referenced in the later chapters.

But these weaknesses are overwhelmed by the book's strengths.

The book's greatest strength is its list of references, both old (1862) and new (1998). There are more than 100 references, which support some of the more shocking facts in the book. The author makes a very strong case for the South's right to secede, citing both U.S. and world precedents.

These references adequately support the author's insistence that Lincoln was a tyrant, such as Lincoln's order to arrest the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Adams cited two specific references, of which one was a first-hand account.

The author supplies many references to show that the war was started over money, not slavery. (Read Lincoln's First Inaugural Address.) Ironically, it was an English writer (John Stuart Mill) who was the first to write about slavery as the real reason for the war, in February 1862.

The book is by no means disjointed. I could not have written it, but I think its organization could have been better.

There were some statements with which I strongly disagreed, but they aren't relevant here. The two main points that I learned were: 1. states have the right to secede, and 2. Lincoln was a tyrant.

Well worth your time and careful consideration.......2007-07-11

"You must not tell the truth if it hurts a national hero." - Anonymous commentator, cited in "The Last Place on Earth," by Roland Huntford.

Did you know...

- That Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, stated his support for the Corwin Amendment, which had just passed Congress, and which would have guaranteed the existence of slavery in perpetuity as an 'unamendable amendment' to the United States Constitution?

- That, at the start of the war in 1861, Congress passed a resolution stating that the war "is not waged on our part...for interfering with the rights, or established institutions of these [the Confederate] States"...meaning slavery?

- That Abraham Lincoln actually contermanded emancipation orders issued by Union General Fremont in Missouri early in the war on the basis that "It was a war for a great national idea, the Union" and that "General Fremont should not have dragged the Negro into it"?

- That Lincoln wrote to Horace Greeley (a prominent abolitionist and editor of the New York Tribune) stating that, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it"?

- That Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed only those slaves in areas of the Confederate States that were not controlled by Union armies, but left those in occupied territory and border states in slavery?

- That Congress, devoid of any representatives from the Confederate States, did not pass an amendment to outlaw slavery until December of 1865, months after Lincoln was dead and the war was over?

All of the above are facts, and yet few Americans are aware of them. Why? For that simple reason that, since the end of the war in 1865, a concerted effort has been made to present Abraham Lincoln and his comrades in Union blue as humanitarian crusaders bent on achieving the equality referred to the in the Declaration of Independence.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Lincoln himself stated many times that he was not in favor of equality between the races, a fact underscored by his participation in the American Colonization Society: an organization dedicated to relocating American blacks in such places as Africa and South America - anywhere but the United States. Had Lincoln and his Republican colleagues pushed for racial equality, the GOP would have died in its infancy. Lincoln himself admitted in 1858 that the vast majority of Americans (including himself) strongly opposed the idea.

Nevertheless, the modern image of Lincoln as a 19th Moses leading slaves out of bondage should not surprise us. All throughout human history, the factions that have won wars have done their best to present themselves in the best light possible, while simultaneously denegrating their enemies. They do this for two primary reasons: 1) to morally justify the enormous loss of life and destruction that wars cause, and 2) so that future generations will embrace them as heroes and accept their vision of the world. Sometimes, what they have to say is true; sometimes it is not. It is up to us to look back into the past, weigh the facts for ourselves, and decide where the virtue and blame truly lie in the history of any given conflict.

For those interested in the American war of 1861-1865, Charles Adams' book "When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession" should, along with the works of men such as Thomas DiLorenzo and Clyde Wilson, be considered 'equal time for the other side'. As such, I believe it is well worth your time and careful consideration.

"The thesis that the solid South seceded to protect slavery just does not make sense," writes Adams. "The institution of slavery had never been more secure for the slave owners, with the Supreme Court in their back pocket; with the Constitution itself expressly protecting slavery and mandating the return of fugitive slaves everywhere -- a mandate Lincoln said he would enforce; with Lincoln also declaring that he had no right to interfere with slavery and no personal inclination to do so; with Lincoln personally supporting a new constitutional amendment protecting slavery forever -- an amendment expressly made irrevocable." Indeed, rather than slavery, Adams argues that the war between North and South had more to do with taxation and competing economic interests; and he supports this assertion with an impressive variety of facts. Of particular interest here is that Adams quotes extensively from European sources, including newspaper accounts and the perspectives of such well-known figures as Charles Dickens and Karl Marx. Of all the books I have read on this subject, none weigh the international opinion so frankly and heavily as Adams does for us here. He also takes time to investigate the history of secession and to compare and contrast the ideology of the American Revolution with that of Lincoln and his Northern war partners. Again, the European perspective is evaluated, and we are treated to such thought-provoking quotes as the following from England's Cornhill Magazine: "With what pretence of fairness, it is said, can you Americans object to the secession of the Southern States when your nation was founded on secession from the British Empire?"

The only real words of criticism that I have for Adams is that I believe he downplays the role of slavery too much when he evaluates the causes of secession. He is absolutely correct in maintaining that the war was not fought over the question of slavery, but that does not mean that it played no role whatsoever in the events leading up to the war. There are prominent references to slavery in several of the secession ordinances of the Southern states; and while Adams would maintain that those references represent so much political posturing, I disagree. Although few Southerners actually owned slaves, slavery itself was an essential element of the Deep South economy, and an important aspect of the overall social fabric of 19th Century America (even many in the Northern states had no desire to see slavery end, as it might mean that freed blacks could move north). Thus, there were very real concerns regarding the institution and how Lincoln and his "Black Republicans" might interfere with it. Adams points out that Lincoln had promised not to interfere with it, but he forgets that Southerners trusted Lincoln about as far as they could throw him. I think Adams might have tackled the issue more successfully had he focused on the fact that, while several Southern states did mention slavery prominently in their ordinances of secession, the majority of their comments on the issue focused on sectional feeling (the "sectional, anti-slavery party in Washington," as South Carolina put it) and slavery's economic importance to the South (see Mississippi's ordinance). These factors tie back into his main thesis, while acknowledging that slavery did play a role in the secessions of the first seven Southern states to leave the Union (the latter four states seceded because of Lincoln's call for troops to be used against the first seven seceded states). Southerners simply had no desire to be dictated to, not on any issue; and they seceded when they became convinced that Northern interests had taken over the federal government, and that their best hope for protecting their interests lay outside the Union.

The 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth will be upon us in less than two years, and between now and then we will undoubtedly be subjected to a barrage of the usual Abe Lincoln-as-messiah-and-patriot-extraordinaire mythology. Swallow it if you will; but for those of you who are interested in the candid, and often downright ugly, truth about America's 16th president and its most disastrous conflict, I cannot recommend "When in the Course of Human Events" highly enough. My quibbles with him aside, Adams presents his evidence and conclusions in such a even-handed, scholarly and compelling manner that only the most ardent Lincoln admirers will be able to put the book down and walk away unaffected by it.

Also recommended in the 'equal time' department: "The Real Lincoln" and "Lincoln Unmasked", both by Thomas DiLorenzo; "Is Davis a Traitor?" by Albert Taylor Bledsoe; "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," by Jefferson Davis; "From Union to Empire: Essays in the Jeffersonian Tradition," by Clyde Wilson and Joseph Stromberg; and "A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States," by Alexander H. Stephens.

One of the Most Brilliant U.S. History Books Ever Written.......2007-05-25

Like most of us I grew up learning that the Civil War was fought to free the slaves, and that Abraham Lincoln was the Great Emancipator who freed all the slaves admirably once and for all. But over the years this story was just not adding up for me anymore.

For one, when has any country really fought a war only for moral issues and not economic and political ones? With this in mind does it really make sense that American families would send hundreds of thousands of their own children to their graves to fight a war to end slavery in the 1860s? If this was true, and these people felt so strongly about giving rights to the blacks, then why weren't black soldiers allowed to fight alongside white soldiers in our military until the Korean War approximately 90 years after the Civil War ended? Does it make sense that white families would volunteer their sons to fight for this cause if the government still wouldn't allow blacks and whites to fight together for another 90 years?

In addition, why then during the Civil War did Lincoln allow West Virginia to be admitted to the Union as a slave state more than two years after the war began? And why were the slave owners in the North allowed to keep their slaves throughout the entire Civil War? The underlying reason is because the Civil War was much more about money, economics, and politics than it was about slavery.

In this book Charles Adams shows us how the Southern states were simply sick and tired of how they were being treated by the North. 87% of the country's taxes were collected from the people in the South, with the majority of this tax money being spent on projects in the North. The South really wanted to secede from the Union because of this and some other issues, and the North recognized they would be devastated economically if they ever allowed this to happen. In addition, the South controlled the best shipping ports in the Union, and the North recognized they would be dealt a serious blow if they ever lost access to these ports themselves.

So when the war began, the people in the North were told it was all about the importance of preserving the Union, and nothing about ending slavery was mentioned at the time. The book shows letters, quotes, and newspaper articles that were written at the time confirming the North's position on this, and some of the articles came from Europe which had a more unbiased opinion in reporting on the war than the Northern and Southern journalists did.

The book also points out how Lincoln closed down hundreds of newspapers in the North for writing articles against the war, and how he imprisoned politicians for expressing their opposition to the war also. He even went so far as to order the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to be arrested for disagreeing with him.

As it's been said by many over the years, the Emancipation Proclamation freed no one. It only declared the slaves in the Southern states not already under Union control to be free from slavery. This Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January of 1863, almost two years after the war began. And when it was issued there were riots in the North because people were angry at the thought of the war being about ending slavery and freeing the blacks, not about preserving the Union for their own economic interests. And as the book points out...racism was actually far worse in the North than it was in the South.

Some of the Northern states allowed slavery, and most of the other Northern states either forbid blacks to live there or forbid them to own any property there. And as far as the abolitionists were concerned, there were those who thought slavery to be immoral, but the most vocal abolitionists were vehemently against slavery because they wanted no blacks living in any state in the Union whatsoever. This explains much about why racism has existed for so long in our country, both in the North and in the South. And surprisingly it was Indiana, a Northern state, that was the one with the highest percentage of its population who eventually became members of the Ku Klux Klan.

One interesting note is the fact that Lincoln's original Emancipation Proclamation was issued in September of 1862, four months before the one we've become familiar with was issued. In the earlier Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln offered the Southern states the right to come back, rejoin the Union, and keep their slaves if they'd agree to end the war. But the Southern states refused to do so, indicating that there was much more at stake for them to fight over than just keeping their slaves.

The idea of making the war look like it was really about slavery came only after it had been fought for about 12-18 months, and the North had been taking a beating both on the battlefields and in the media worldwide. They were being chastised for refusing to allow states to secede from the Union from what was seen as an oppressive government that was taxing the people of the South unjustly. And the international media talked about how ironic it was that the South wanted to secede for almost identical reasons as the original colonies did when they signed the Declaration of Independence and fought the British for their independence in the American Revolution. But in the Civil War, the North was convinced they needed the 87% of the taxes the South had been paying, and they weren't going to let the South secede and stop paying these taxes to them.

This book is one of the best ones I've ever read on any subject, and I definitely recommend it.

This is not history.......2007-03-18

Charles Adams is a man possessed: possessed of hatred for Abraham Lincoln, the North, and the United States of the 21st century. That the book is not history is proven by its subtitle: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession. An historian would not argue a case for or against any historical event. Like his counterpart Thomas DiLorenzo, Adams is an unhappy man who feels driven to trash the entire American historical scene with incomplete, anachronistic arguments. Neither man delves deeply enough into history, although Adams is the better of the two in that regard. Suffice it to say that if you truly want history, Adams and DiLorenzo are not the men to deliver it.

A Flawed Defense of the South.(Review) (book review): An article from: Humanitas

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A Flawed Defense of the South.(Review) (book review): An article from: Humanitas
Stephen M. Klugewicz
Manufacturer: National Humanities Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Humanitas, published by National Humanities Institute on September 22, 2000. The length of the article is 1898 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A Flawed Defense of the South.(Review) (book review)
Author: Stephen M. Klugewicz
Publication: Humanitas (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2000
Publisher: National Humanities Institute
Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Page: 112

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession.: An article from: Journal of Southern History

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When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession.: An article from: Journal of Southern History
James L. Huston
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008FBNKI
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on May 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1150 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession.
Author: James L. Huston
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2002
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 68 Issue: 2 Page: 452(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

When in the Course of Human Events Arguing the Case for Southern Secession

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When in the Course of Human Events Arguing the Case for Southern Secession
Adams Charles
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIKETO

Book Description

In Societies in Eclipse, archaeologists combine their current discoveries with insights from anthropology, history, and Native oral traditions to examine the cultural transformation among the eastern Woodlands tribes immediately preceding and following the arrival of Europeans. While the profound effects of European explorers, missionaries, and traders on Eastern Woodlands tribes cannot be denied, the archaeological evidence suggests that several indigenous societies were already in the process of redefinition prior to European contact.

Book Description

Learning with LabVIEW is a tutorial that teaches graphical programming concepts through real world applications. Bishop's accessible, motivational approach helps students successfully master LabVIEW.

Customer Reviews:

Learning with LabVIEW.......2001-10-06

I find the book very informative and easy to read. However, the book has a number of exercises that refer to a CD that ships with the book. I received no CD, so following some of the examples and performing the exercises can be quite difficult. If a CD is required, I suggest that it be included with the book.

Excelente para aprendices de LabVIEW.......2001-05-08

Excelente para empezar con LabVIEW. Introduce al lector en forma gradual y con muchos ejemplos ya hechos y probados. Trata temas muy importantes a nivel superficial como procesamiento de señales. Es de fácil y rápida lectura. Lo recomiendo para un primer curso de LabVIEW.

Great beginner book.......2000-08-17

This book takes you step by step from the beginning. A must for the beginning programmer and a good reference for the advanced programmer. I read it straight through and never got bored or confused.AWESOME!

easy to pick up the very one.......2000-05-01

virtual instruments good tool

easy to pick up the very one.......2000-05-01

virtual instruments good tool

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For beginners only!
Good tutorial but.....
Great starter and comprehensive book
Great for new starters
Learning for Labview Does NOT include demo files.

Learning with LabVIEW 6i
Robert H Bishop
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Hands-on Exercise Manual for LabView Programming Data Acquisition and Analysis (With CD-ROM)
LabVIEW Graphical Programming

ASIN: 0130325597

Customer Reviews:

For beginners only!.......2002-12-18

This is a very readable text that essentially parallels and expands upon the LabView Users Manuals. If you have read through all or most of those manuals you may find yourself rapidly skimming through Bishop's book as nothing more than a refresher. Newbies will appreciate the simplistic step-by-step approach but anyone beyond the basics will likely be disappointed. BTW, you can download the related files from the LabView site to get an idea of the content.

Good tutorial but............2002-01-06

This is a really great book! However, there is also a package of CD and book which I do not see offered here. The CD includes LabVIEW Student Edition. The referenced .vi's (virtual instruments) are available for download but, not the complete CD. I have been unable to locate the CD individually, only in bundled packages.

Great starter and comprehensive book.......2001-09-20

After reading all pages of this book and practicing all programs and exercises inside it within a few weeks, I become a proficient in Labview and I can develop any project easily. The only thing missing of this book is its CD which has all of its examples, but one can download it from its official website without any problem. Overall this book is great for any one who is new in labview and also for any one who doesnot have any programming skills and going to use it within his/her job.

Great for new starters.......2001-07-20

Gives you the basics to get started if you are a new timer.

Learning for Labview Does NOT include demo files........2001-04-04

Good book except that you really need to purchase or have the Labview student version. The book does not ship with a CD containing the demo files it refers to so often in the text. Makes it difficult to follow without the files.

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Learning with LabVIEW 7 Express
Robert H. Bishop
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Learning with LabVIEW 6i
Robert H Bishop Robert H. Bishop
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHBH74

Book Description

This report takes stock of the progress made by the Republic of Moldova in the management of its environment since the country was first reviewed in 1998, in particular in the implementation of the recommendations of the first review. It also covers eight issues of importance to the Republic of Moldova.

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