William C. Davis: Institute

William C. Davis is American historian. Explore interesting quotes on institute.
William C. Davis: 34 quotes0 likes

“Always there had been the complicated factor of the one institution that peculiarly set the South apart from the North, slavery”

William C. Davis

Source: Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America (2002), p. 3

“Race had never been a defining element in successful nation states. The true definition always depended far more on distinctions in language, culture, and political institutions. Southerners spoke precisely the same language as Northerners, so there was no distinction there.”

William C. Davis

Source: Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America (2002), p. 20

“The South had a far better chance of preserving its institutions and quirks of culture by remaining a part of a larger nation.”

William C. Davis

Source: Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America (2002), p. 21

“Southern states had embraced the Union only insofar as it served to protect their rights to hold property in slaves, and to spread slavery as the nation expanded and the institution itself became intertwined as a defining element in the struggle for national power itself. In slavery could not spread as new states were formed, then the existing slave states would be doomed to perpetual minority in representation in Congress, guaranteeing that if the day came when Northern antipathy to slavery itself became hot enough, the majority could use the government to subvert the Constitution and abolish the institution where it already existed. In short, the South could not affort to lose any battle over slavery, nor even over issues on its periphery.”

William C. Davis

Source: Look Away!: A History of the Confederate States of America (2002), p. 3