In this Book
- The Civil War Confiscation Acts: Failing to Reconstruct the South
- Book
- 2005
- Published by: Fordham University Press
summary
This book is the first full account in more than 20 years of two significant, but relatively understudied, laws passed during the Civil War. The Confiscation Acts (1861-62) were designed to sanction slave holding states by authorizing the Federal Government to seize rebel properties (including land and other assets held in Northern and border states) and grant freedom to slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military. Abraham Lincoln objected to the Acts for fear they might push border states, particularly Missouri and Kentucky, into secession. The Acts were eventually rendered moot by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. John Syrett examines the political contexts of the Acts, especially the debates in Congress, and demonstrates how the failure of the confiscation acts during the war presaged the political and structural shortcomings of Reconstruction after the war.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgements
- p. ix
- Introduction
- pp. xi-xiii
- Chapter 8: The Politics of Confiscation
- pp. 120-136
- Chapter 12: Conclusion
- pp. 185-189
- Selected Bibliography
- pp. 249-267
Additional Information
ISBN
9780823247585
Related ISBN(s)
9780823224890
MARC Record
OCLC
156268037
Pages
296
Launched on MUSE
2012-02-08
Language
English
Open Access
No