This book "traces the historical roots of the secessionist spirit, and introduces us to the often radical, sometimes quixotic, and highly charged movements that want to decentralize and re-localize power"--P. [4] of cover.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Preface -- 1.

Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina

Daniel Crofts examines Unionists in three pivotal southern states--Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee--and shows why the outbreak of the war enabled the Confederacy to gain the allegiance of these essential, if ambivalent, governments.

This book, first published in 1999, offers an explanation for the occurrence of secessionist conflict, based on a comparative study of numerous historical examples.