History And Confederate Leadership: A Study In The Intellectual History Of The Civil War

The subject of this thesis is the historical-mindedness of Jefferson Davis, Alexander H. Stephens, Judah Benjamin, and Stephen R.Mallory and the intention, in addition to demonstrating its manifestations, is to show how their historical knowledge and interpretations influenced their policies and thinking during the American Civil War. It is this author's contention that with a better insight into the historical world-mindedness of these Confederate leaders, one can more ably comprehend the course of the Confederacy and the history of the American Civil War. For it has been the author's finding that these men did indeed exhibit definite historical-mindedness and that their historical views did indeed influence their thoughts and actions during the Civil War.