Clergy dissent in the Old South, 1830-1865

About this book

During the antebellum and Civil War years, the southern states exerted enormous pressures on the population to produce universal conformity in two areas: first, for slavery and then, for secession and war. Though the South made impressive progress toward such a goal, unanimity could never be achieved. There were always those who dissented. This is the first book to focus on dissenters among the southern clergy. Although the southern Protestant clergy played a vital role in the justification of slavery, secession, and the Civil War - with some members among the last to surrender at the end of the war - David B. Chesebrough demonstrates that the South was not the monolithic system the Confederacy wanted to portray. Emphasizing the courage required and the cost of dissent before and throughout the Civil War, Chesebrough tells the stories of these bold believers and discusses the issues that caused certain members of the Christian clergy to split from the majority. Essentially, Chesebrough puts a human face on the abstract idea of dissent. He is the first to tell the stories of these men and women of courage, of people who had the fortitude to risk disgrace, imprisonment, or even death for their beliefs.