Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War

Early in the book, Dew states that “the story [the documents of the secession commissioners] tell is one that all of us, northerners and southerners, black and white, need to confront” (3). What stylistic choices offer points of access to a broad, diverse readership? Where, if at all, does Dew write toward a more specific identity or identities?

Some commissioners characterize Lincoln’s election as a declaration of war and the North as “fanatical.” Analyze what the South stands to gain from this characterization, and explain the larger narrative(s) it helps to construct. 

Dew casts the commissioners as “apostles” who spread the “gospel of secession” across the South. Identify and analyze three to four instances of religious language or missionary zeal in the commissioners’ arguments.

Using examples, explain how the commissioners’ rhetorical approaches changed when speaking to a moderate Unionist audience, as opposed to a pro-slavery delegation.

Identify and analyze the structural choices Dew makes to present the large amount of primary source material that anchors his argument.

Using examples, describe how the commissioners used notions of honor and dishonor to advocate for secession. Take care to identify instances in which the concept of honor is linked to specific social or material conditions.

Dew says that “the capacity for compartmentalization among this generation of white Southerners appears to have been practically boundless” (81), noting the logical inconsistencies in the rhetoric about injustices endured by the white South. Explain how this habit of compartmentalization has persisted or changed, analyzing at least two of Dew’s anecdotes from the present day and one of your own.

Dew amends his 2001 argument in the Afterword with added emphasis on the importance of slavery in the Southern economy. Using examples, explain how this new information adds nuance to rhetoric cited in previous chapters.