Embracing Southern Anger and Southern Nationalism
Embracing Southern Anger and Southern Nationalism
This chapter traces De Bow’s reaction to the nation’s sectional debates and his feelings as a southern nationalist. The Review became an outlet for fanatic secessionists such as Edmund Ruffin and George Fitzhugh. De Bow’s rational ideas about southern economic development and societal improvement gave way to harsh sectional rhetoric. His personal transformation represented the plight of the many southerners who gave up on unity and peace by the late 1850s. De Bow, the foremost supporter and promoter of the southern commercial convention movement, used his status to transform conventions into meetings that focused on southern property rights, northern slights, and the rise of the Republican Party. He became combative and intolerant of ideas that diverged from his own. No longer interested in improving the South’s economic and social status within the United States, De Bow openly called for disunion and promised southerners that they were ready for war.
Keywords: Southern Nationalism, Southern Fire-Eater, States’ Rights, Proslavery Ideology, George Fitzhugh, Edmund Ruffin
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