The Southern war for independence was ultimately lost on the battlefield, but the collapse of the home front was equally decisive. Northern opposition to the war, from the peacenik Copperheads to the New York draft riot, is a familiar story. Much less is known about the widespread Southern opposition to the Confederacy which, this book argues in a state-by-state account, led to its downfall. Dissent took many forms: the initial rejection of secession by four Southern states, secret peace organizations, Unionist guerilla bands, urban spy networks, resistance to the draft, a rising tide of desertions, food riots, and the states' rights dogma that undermined strategic military cooperation with the government in Richmond. Anti-Confederate activity was scattered across a surprising number of towns, cities, and counties in the 11 states of the Confederacy. Opposition to secession was especially strong in the mountainous, mostly non-slaveholding sections of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Some 100,000 white Southerners enlisted in the Union army, and a state-by-state breakdown is included. Policies enacted by the Confederate Congress which favored wealthy slaveholders aggravated class disparities, and contributed to a growing disenchantment and active obstruction of the Southern cause. Each of the 11 states is examined, in order of their secession, and accounts are given of activities and organizations of Southern Unionists and their leaders, who ranged from high-society spies and a turncoat Confederate general to dirt-farmer guerrillas, propagandists, and politicians.
About the Author: Calvin Goddard Zon's first book-The Good Fight That Didn't End: Henry P. Goddard's Accounts of Civil War and Peace-was published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2008. The critically acclaimed book is based on the writings of his great-grandfather, a captain in the 14th Connecticut Infantry. Zon is a Washington, D.C.-based historian and journalist, having been a staff writer for the Washington Star daily, Press Associates, Inc., and the United Mine Workers of America Journal. He has written for the Civil War News, the Civil War Times, People, The Progressive, National Catholic Reporter, and In These Times. He earned a B.A. from Davidson College, where he majored in American history, and an M.A. from the American University. He has taught high school American history. He is past commander of Lincoln-Cushing Camp No. 2 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He served for six years in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is a member of the Lincoln Forum and a board member of the Lincoln at the Crossroads Alliance. He has presented his first book at Civil War Roundtables from Connecticut to South Carolina. One of his Virginia ancestors served on the staff of Stonewall Jackson.