A window into the Southern debate over slavery from the Revolutionary era to the early Republic, told through public writings and speeches.

This 1858 collection gathers the best-known Southern opinions on slavery, state rights, and national policy. It presents selections from major figures and public meetings that shaped the way the South thought about liberty, union, and its own future. The book aims to present competing views with honesty, drawing on Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and other key voices to illuminate how anti-slavery and pro-slavery arguments were treated in the early United States.

• Includes public resolutions, speeches, and debates that reveal how Southern leaders framed slavery and sovereignty.


• Shows the tension between calling slavery a moral evil and defending its political role in government.


• Offers historical context for how the founders and later generations discussed emancipation and national unity.


• Contains material useful for readers of American history, political thought, and the long arc of the abolition debate.

Ideal for readers of history and political thought who want a firsthand sense of the Southern platform and its evolving arguments.

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