Embattled conservatism: The ideology of the southern Whigs

摘要

This dissertation analyzes the ideology of the southern Whigs and discusses the relation of their ideology to the distinctive economic and political conditions of the antebellum South. It will demonstrate the importance of party differences to the historical development of the South, to secession, and to the Civil War. By presenting conflicting party positions, this study also will highlight the diversity and complexity of the antebellum South. Southern Whig ideology combined an elitist form of republicanism, a deep concern for the Union as well as southern rights, a belief in the necessity of a self-sufficient, diversified southern economy, and a defense of the Constitution and slavery--all aspects which differentiated southern Whig ideology from that of the Democratic party. This dissertation also will demonstrate how the presence of slavery in the South caused southern Whigs to adopt positions that deviated from those of most northern Whigs, but not so much as to prevent Whigs in the South from remaining part of the Whig party coalition. Only the ascendancy of the issue of slavery in the late 1840s and 1850s caused the breakdown of the second party system, exposing the divergence between northern and southern ideological persuasions of national Whig party principles. Despite the dissolution of the national Whig party, southern Whigs expressed and maintained their ideology through other party institutions until Lincoln's election, the secession of the lower South, and the attack on Fort Sumter eliminated party distinctions and brought to the South a unity previously lacking.