The Iron Will of Jefferson Davis

by Cass Canfield

Book Overview

Biography of JEFFERSON DAVIS. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517362449
• ISBN13: 9780517362440
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Fairfax Press Limited
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A balanced account of Jefferson Davis, a man who is rarely treated fairly and honestly by historical

Most of the history books that cover the American Civil War examine it from the northern perspective. While this is somewhat natural, after all the victors generally get to write the history books, this leads to a bias in the examination. In this book, the political and personal life of Jefferson Davis, the one and only president of the Confederate States of America (CFA) is examined. The difficulties that he had with political opponents in the CFA are described; something that is very rarely mentioned in other history books. After the war, he was captured by Union forces and held in a dank prison for some time. Then President Andrew Johnson made wild claims about his actions as CFA President and his citizenship rights were not restored until the 1970's. The best part of the book is the recapitulation of how the CFA was forced to adopt many tactics that were counter to the very reasons why they seceded from the Union in the first place. In order to improve the prosecution of the war, Davis enforced conscription, transferred power from the states to the central government and freed many of the slaves so that they could engage in combat. In an incredible point of irony, there was a point in time where Davis held a more anti-slavery position than Lincoln did. This is an excellent short biography of a man that has not been given an honest appraisal by history. For decades, he was painted as a traitor, when in fact he was generally pro-union until the end and conducted himself honorably throughout the war. Unfortunately, he served as a lightning rod for criticism of the Southern cause while others who were on the Southern side received much better treatment and sometimes were even praised by union voices. This book does a great deal to balance that out.