Northern Editorials on Secession
Howard Ceil Perkins, Northern Editorials on Secession, New York: American Historical Association, 1942.
1. The Northern Editorials on Secession is a two volume set of books containing northern newspaper articles from 1860-1861 concerning Northern opinions on secession. There are 1097 pages of articles in this text totaling 495 articles. With this many articles it gives a wide range of views during the period of 1860-1861 of how Northerners felt about the idea of secession. The articles are now in typewritten form, but the words and grammar have not been changed from their originals so they would not be misinterpreted.
2. The articles themselves were written between 1860 and 1861, however, the Northern Editorials on Secession book was not created until 1942. It was prepared and published by the American Historical Association and edited by Howard Cecil Perkins. It was created to try and capture the pervading opinions on secession in the North.
3. The articles cover a wide range of subjects around secession, but do not focus on anyone particular person. However many different people are discussed throughout the 495 different articles. To find a particular person it would probably be best to look at the table of contents and see if any certain article may have pertained to them. There is one section of the book dedicated to Buchanan's message to congress.
4. The volume is organized into 27 topics covering a wide range of ideas around secessions. Using the table of contents one may find a topic area and view the list of articles that are in that section of the book.
Here is the list of Topics that the book is divided into:
I) The Campaign of 1860
II) The Prospect of Secession
III) Buchanan's Message to Congress
IV) Secession: Right or Revolution
V) "The Enforcement of the Laws"
VI) Conciliation and Compromise
VII) Measures for Peace
VIII) Peaceable Separation
IX) New Confederacies and a Free City
X) "The Everlasting Negro"
XI) The Morality of Slavery
XII) The "Chivalry"
XIII) The Mississippi
XIV) The Economics of Union
XV) Inaugurals South and North
XVI) The Emergence of a Policy
XVII) The strategy of Sumter
XVIII) The Sequel to Sumter
XIX) Post-Sumter Pleas for Peace
XX) Objects of the War
XXI) The Border States
XXII) Western Virginia
XXIII) The American Experiment
XXIV) Foreign Relations
XXV) Personalities
XXVI) "Sensationism" and Propaganda
XXVII) Moral and Spiritual Values
5. The only finding aid is the extensive table of contents that was just outlined in section four.
6. The two book volume of Northern Editorials on Secession, maybe found on the second floor of Hawthorne-Longfellow library. Its call number is: E440.5.P45
It maybe checked out of the library just like any other book.
7. This source can answer all sorts of questions on what Northerners in 1860-1861 openly said and discussed in public about the idea of secession. These articles can give insight to the pervading messages of the time and a look back to the concerns the North may have had over secession.
Southern Editorials on Secession
Dwight Lowell Dumond, Southern Editorials on Secession, New York: American Historical Association, 1931.
1. This is a one volume book collection of newspaper articles from the South between January 6, 1860 to May 9, 1861. The articles come from a variety of newspapers across the south that discusses views and opinions on secession. The articles were not changed so there would not be mistakes in interpretation. So these are original articles that have simply been retyped into an organized book.
2. The book was made by the American Historical Association in 1931 and was edited by Dwight Lowell Dumond. It was created in order to preserve articles of this time and put them into an organized book so one may look back at the public opinions of secession in the south.
3. The articles do not focus on one particular person, but give a rather large overview of southern opinions. However, within different articles one may find different people discussed, but there is not any specific person singled out anymore than anyone else.
4. This book is organized in chronological order based on the publication of the article. It starts January 6, 1860 and goes to May 9, 1861. There is a table of contents with the title of the articles listed so one may look for a title of an article that maybe of some interest to them.
5. There are no finding aids, just a table of contents with article titles.
6. Southern Editorials on Secession are located in Hawthorne-Longfellow library on the second floor. It may be taken out of the library just like any other book.
Its call number is: E440.5.D89
7. This source will answer questions on different Southern opinions about secession during the time period of 1860-1861. It will also give insight to the kind of materials that Southerners were reading in their newspapers so it may shed some light on how they came to feel the way they did about secession.