At the Precipice: Americans North and South During the Secession Crisis (review)

Many professional historians and general readers agree that the secession movement in the winter of 1860-1861 was the greatest threat to the existence of the United States in our history. As a result, an expansive literature exists on the causation of the secession movement that has richly benefited from the talents of many gifted historians. Shearer Davis Bowman's At the Precipice aptly continues this trend.

Previous studies usually take one of several approaches. Some emphasize political history and concentrate on key individuals and their actions, with the analysis of the crisis as a reflection of the talent or lack thereof of the political class; nonmembers of the leadership class played an insignificant role in the crisis. On the other hand, some scholars emphasize long-term economic forces that seemed almost to predetermine the respective actions of each section of the country. Individual actions or thought become insignificant. More recent cultural studies view the crisis as a clash over modernization. Bowman provides a thorough overview of these previous works in the introduction. Doctoral students will bless the author's name for his help in preparing them for the inevitable secession question on their preliminary exams. This reviewer wishes he had the advantage of such a work when he took his examination.

Bowman blends the above mentioned approaches in this study. He argues that the North and South shared the same heritage but that over time they interpreted this heritage in vastly different ways. Several key points of commonality existed between North and South; among them were the historical examples of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the cultural foundation of evangelical Christianity. Both regions also had deep negrophobia that found expression in many ways. The two regions interpreted their core events and values uniquely according to their perceived rights, interests, values, and sense of honor. Any violations called for a vigorous defense of those fundamental principles.

Bowman illustrates how each section defended its rights against real and perceived threats. The actions of such well-known politicians as John Bell, John C. Breckinridge, Howell Cobb, Stephen Douglas, John Tyler, Martin Van Buren, and others are summarized in a chapter dealing with the effect of the second party system on the secession movement. Diary entries of less well-known people are also utilized. For example, Bowman examines the secession movement through the eyes of such southern white women as Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard and such African Americans as Sojourner Truth. He also compares cultural perspectives of free labor advocates, notably Abraham Lincoln, and Old South plantation advocates like Jefferson Davis. Finally, Bowman deals with the significance of honor and shame as cultural forces in both North and South.

This work would serve admirably as a textbook. It summarizes the writings of many historians clearly and concisely and synthesizes much of research of the last generation of historians. Unlike many of the works Bowman cites, he does not offer a new interpretation of the secession movement.

Bowman's coverage of northern and southern approaches to secession is even-handed. Within each region he balances those perspectives, demonstrating differences between New England and the Midwest and the Upper South and Lower South. Alabama and Alabamians appear throughout the book, but it seems as if Bowman looks more to Mississippi and Georgia for examples of Lower South views on secession than to Alabama. Both academics and general readers will benefit from this study.