Louis Pendleton

Alexander H. Stephens Louis Pendleton

This biography appears in the series of American Crisis Biographies. The author has obtained much interesting material from files of Georgia and other Southern newspapers of the 1840's, '50's, and '60's, from old letters and scrapbooks of the war period, and from manuscripts in the possession of the archives of the government at Washington. Alexander H. Stephens was one of the most interesting personalities in the American Civil War. He was Vice-President of the short-lived Southern Confederacy. A remarkable man in many respects, his gift of eloquence gave him an almost unique position as a lawyer, and his constitutional views lend a certain piquancy to the record of his public life. He was not so much concerned in the retention or abolition of slavery when he assisted to fight the North as in the assertion of State rights. He was their most powerful advocate, and he supported the war in so far as it was intended to uphold the right to secede. When the result of the war showed that might and his theory of right were on opposite sides, he accepted the event, however unwelcome, as conclusive. It is not easy for us to-day to understand all that was involved in the triumph of the North and the placing of the whites of the South at the political mercy of their former slaves. We get an idea from this biography. "A great life full of tragedy both public and private, yet also full of triumph and of usefulness" is Mr. Pendleton's summing-up. "A scholar, a man of deep political learning, of profound knowledge of constitutional history, of moderate opinions and temperate spirit" the "Saturday Review" called him when noticing his "Constitutional Men of the Late War Between the States." This life is worth reading first as a study of the man, secondly, for the light it throws on the struggle between North and South. The author also delves into secession movements in the country preceeding the Southern movement, particular the opposition of New England to The War of 1812 and their desire to secede as a result. Very logical book, not of the sentimental, syrupy, variety at all. Well-sourced and annotated.