Orestes Brownson's thought-provoking thesis on the US government, the Constitution of the United States, and the ultimate destiny of the USA, remains as incisive and intellectually rich today as when it was first published. Combining history with political philosophy, Brownson casts his analytical gaze to the inception of the American nation. Using a wide variety of documents, including those authored by the Founding Fathers prior to and following the creation of the United States, the author attempts to demonstrate how religion and politics are interrelated - in the case of America's founding, both had roles. Writing in the mid-19th century, Orestes Brownson attempts to clarify what the nature of the U.S. government is, and how the Constitution reflects it. Various natural laws, such as those pertaining to the family and human development of civilization, are examined. Part of Brownson's conclusion is the idea religion must continue to play a role in the USA, just as it has since the colonial era.

The Civil War devastated the South, and the end of slavery turned Southern society upside down. How did the South regain social, economic, and political stability in the wake of emancipation and wartime destruction, and how did the South come together with its former enemies in the North? Why did the South not slip back into chaos? This book holds the keys to the answers to these tantalizing questions. Author Joseph Ranney explodes the myth of a unified South and exposes just how complex and fragile the postwar recovery was. The end of slavery and the emergence of a radically new social order raised a host of thorny legal issues: What place should newly freed slaves have in Southern society? What was the proper balance between states' rights and a newly powerful federal government? How could postwar economic distress be eased without destroying property rights? Should new civil rights be extended to women as well as blacks? Southern states addressed these issues in surprisingly different ways. Ranney also shatters the popular myth that a new legal system was imposed upon the South by the victorious North during Reconstruction. Southern states took an active hand in shaping postwar changes, and Southern courts often defended civil rights and national reunification against hostile Southern legislators. How did that come about? Ranney provides some surprising answers. He also profiles judges and other lawmakers who shaped Southern law during and after Reconstruction, including heretofore little-known black leaders in the South. These extraordinary individuals created a legal heritage that assisted leaders of the second civil rights revolution a century after Reconstruction ended. This bookadds immeasurably to our knowledge not only of Southern history, but also of American legal and social history.

BCR's Shelf2Life American Civil War Collection is a unique and exciting collection of pre-1923 titles focusing on the American Civil War and the people and events surrounding it. From memoirs and biographies of notable military figures to firsthand accounts of famous battles and in-depth discussions of slavery, this collection is a remarkable opportunity for scholars and historians to rediscover the experience and impact of the Civil War. The volumes contained in the collection were all written within 60 years of the end of the war, which means that most authors had living memory of it and were facing the effects of the war while writing. These firsthand accounts allow the modern reader to more fully understand the culture of both the Union and Confederacy, the politics that governed the escalation and end of the war, the personal experience of life during the Civil War, and the most difficult and polarizing question in the history of the United States: slavery. The American Civil War Collection allows new readers access to the contemporary arguments and accounts surrounding the war, and is a vital new tool in understanding this important and pivotal chapter in American history.

Of the many books written about the Battle of Gettysburg, none has included selections from the collected memoirs of the 238 chaplains, North and South, who were present at the battle-until now. Because chaplains were considered noncombatants, most, with the exception of Father William Corby of the Irish Brigade, were largely ignored. This unique study has brought to light many of the observations of clergymen, protestant, Catholic, and Jewish, who accompanied their regiments wherever they marched, camped, or fought. Some of the memoirs have never been published, others unnoticed for a century. Because this is the first book to approach the Battle of Gettysburg from this perspective, rosters of Union and Confederate chaplains reportedly present at the battle are also included. To establish reference points for the chaplains' memoirs, they have been placed in the context of the three-day battle itself, a bloody conflict Father James Sheeran of the 14th Louisiana Infantry characterized as a time when he could not have been more frightened "Had Hell itself broken its boundaries." Chaplain randolph McKim of the 2nd virginia Cavalry thought that on the firing line he had nothing to do but sit on his horse and be shot at. After the battle was over, however, chaplains became very busy. They helped bury the dead and comfort 21,000 wounded soldiers. The chaplains themselves did not escape injury. Four chaplains had been killed, wounded, or injured and eighteen captured to be detained in prisons. This is their story in their own words.

No person excited greater emotion in Kansas than James Henry Lane, the U.S. senator who led a volunteer brigade in 1861-1862. In fighting numerous skirmishes, liberating hundreds of slaves, burning portions of four towns, and murdering half a dozen men, Lane and his brigade garnered national attention as the saviors of Kansas and the terror of Missouri.

This first book-length study of the "jayhawkers," as the men of Lane's brigade were known, takes a fresh look at their exploits and notoriety. Bryce Benedict draws on a wealth of previously unexploited sources, including letters by brigade members, to dramatically re-create the violence along the Kansas-Missouri border and challenge some of the time-honored depictions of Lane's unit as bloodthirsty and indiscriminately violent.

Bringing to life an era of guerillas, bushwhackers, and slave stealers, "Jayhawkers" also describes how Lane's brigade was organized and equipped and provides details regarding staff and casualties. Assessing the extent to which the jayhawkers followed accepted rules of warfare, Benedict argues that Lane set a precedent for the Union Army's eventual adoption of "hard" tactics toward civilians.

An entertaining story rich in detail, "Jayhawkers" will captivate scholars and history enthusiasts as it sheds new light on the unfettered violence on this western fringe of the Civil War.

In 1861, young Presbyterian minister John D. Kirkpatrick-following in his grandfather and great grandfather's footsteps-was preaching at his first church near Nashville. At that time, war fever was raging even before Tennessee seceded. It was no surprise that John would enlist in the Confederate Army; like many in the South, his family had a long tradition of military service to their country. A year later, John became a captain in the Ninth Tennessee Cavalry, which soon was attached to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. Tennessee Preacher, Tennessee Soldier is a carefully researched book that takes us through the years of the Civil War. It's the story of a man who was embroiled in bloody battles, bold raids, and daring escape-all the while living up to his religious values even under the stresses of war. Upon his return home, John successfully led several churches in Nashville, taught theology at Cumberland University in Lebanon, and published a newspaper. John D. Kirkpatrick lived a life of purpose and principle, and this is his story.

Turncoats and Renegadoes is the first dedicated study of the practice of changing sides during the English Civil Wars. It examines the extent and significance of side-changing in England and Wales but also includes comparative material from Scotland and Ireland. The first half identifies side-changers among peers, MPs, army officers, and common soldiers, before reconstructing the chronological and regional patterns to their defections. The second half delivers a cultural history of treachery, by adopting a thematic approach to explore the social and cultural implications of defections, and demonstrating how notions of what constituted a turncoat were culturally constructed. Side-changing came to dominate strategy on both sides at the highest levels. Both sides reviled, yet sought to take advantage of the practice, whilst allegations of treachery came to dominate the internal politics of royalists and parliamentarians alike. The language applied to 'turncoats and renegadoes' in contemporary print is discussed and contrasted with the self-justifications of the side-changers themselves as they sought to shape an honourable self-image for their families and posterity. Andrew Hopper investigates the implementation of military justice, along with the theatre of retribution surrounding the trial and execution of turncoats. He concludes by arguing that, far from side-changing being the dubious practice of a handful of aberrant individuals, it became a necessary survival strategy for thousands as they navigated their way through such rapidly changing events. He reveals how side-changing shaped the course of the English Revolution, even contributing to the regicide itself, and remained an important political legacy to the English speaking peoples thereafter.

C. Vann Woodward is one of the most significant historians of the post-Reconstruction South. Over his career of nearly seven decades, he wrote nine books; won the Bancroft and Pulitzer Prizes; penned hundreds of book reviews, opinion pieces, and scholarly essays; and gained national and international recognition as a public intellectual. Even today historians must contend with Woodward's sweeping interpretations about southern history. What is less known about Woodward is his scholarly interest in the history of white antebellum southern dissenters, the immediate consequences of emancipation, and the history of Reconstruction in the years prior to the Compromise of 1877. Woodward addressed these topics in three mid-century lecture series that have never before been published. The Lost Lectures of C. Vann Woodward presents for the first time lectures that showcase his life-long interest in exploring the contours and limits of nineteenth-century liberalism during key moments of social upheaval in the South. Historians Natalie J. Ring and Sarah E. Gardner analyze these works, drawing on correspondence, published and unpublished material, and Woodward's personal notes. They also chronicle his failed attempts to finish a much-awaited comprehensive history of Reconstruction and reflect on the challenges of writing about the failures of post-Civil War American society during the civil rights era, dubbed the Second Reconstruction. With an insightful foreword by eminent Southern historian Edward L. Ayers, The Lost Lectures of C. Vann Woodward offers new perspectives on this towering authority on nineteenth- and twentieth-century southern history and his attempts to make sense of the past amidst the tumultuous times in which he lived.

A Federal Corps at war against the Confederacy
The Nineteenth Army Corps of the Union Army was comprised of the Federal troops allocated to the Department of the Gulf. It commenced active operations in 1863 first engaging the enemy at Fort Bisland and Irish Bend in Louisiana followed by the investment of Port Hudson. Thereafter it took part in Bank's Red River Expedition where it engaged at the Battles of Sabine Cross Roads and Pleasant Hill. In 1864 the 1st and 2nd Divisions transferred to Virginia and thence to Maryland where they served under Sherman in the Shenandoah Valley. The 19th also fought with distinction at Opequon, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. Before the war was won it was engaged in further actions at Fort Blakely, Spanish Fort and Mobile. This is an essential unit history of an army corps during the American Civil war and provides much vital information for the student of the period. Available in soft cover and hard back with dust jacket.