America's Longest Siege: Charleston, Slavery, and the Slow March Toward Civil War

by Joseph Kelly

But for almost two centuries prior, a singular ideology forged among the headstrong citizens of Charleston had laid a different sort of siege to the entire American South--the promulgation of brutal, deplorable, and immensely profitable institution of slavery. In America's Longest Siege, Joseph Kelly examines the nation's long struggle with its "peculiar institution" through the hotly contested debates in the city at the center of the slave trade. From the earliest slave rebellions to the Nullification crisis to the final, tragic act of secession that doomed both the city and the South as a whole, Kelly captures the toxic mix of nationalism, paternalism, and unprecedented wealth that made Charleston the focus of the nationwide debate over slavery. Kelly also explores the dissenters who tried--and ultimately failed--to stop the oncoming Civil War. Exhaustingly researched and also compulsively readable, America's Longest Siege offers an insightful new take on the war and the culture that made it inevitable.

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, American History, American

384 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2013

Reviews

[Monte Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book moved a little slowly at times, but the subject was very interesting. The author traces the history of slavery in the US by studying its evolution in South Carolina and how the attitudes of the people there moved from thinking the peculiar institution was immoral, then economically necessary, and finally developing the theory how slavery was good for the slaves as well as the superior white race. The author did a good job of showing how the theory of nullification was developed from a slavery background and how it was used to further that argument. One of the most interesting facts to me was that in 1860 97% of the people in the state of South Carolina were born within the state. This made for an insular population that was not open to change or the influx of new ideas. In the author's words the state was not a democracy but a theocracy and showed just how the plantation owners along the coast dominated the politics of the state.

The chapter on the Democratic convention held there in May, 1860 did an excellent job of showing how the party split over the issue of slavery and how this led to secession. The theme is basically that South Carolina developed most of the ideas supporting slavery that were then spread throughout the South and then used politically to attempt to increase slavery into the new territories of the expanding USA.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This unusual volume takes the position that the changes in attitude about slavery and other issues in the American south in the early 19th century were not a simple, gradual change due to normal cultural and economic causes. Instead, they were directed by the upper classes in and around Charleston, for their own benefit.
Thus, the author suggests that the impetus toward war began a full generation earlier, and had become almost inevitable by the 1850s, as ideas and ideologies had become locked in place.
Even if you don't agree with every word, it's a brilliant discussion-starter.
The only weakness I found in the book was that Kelly mostly ignored the economic pressures to maintain slavery, other than for the South Carolina planter class. Other studies suggest that the South was on a treadmill and couldn't easily get off, having too much of its capital tied to the system and the infrastructure of slavery. Still, the focus of this book is on the moral, ethical and political aspects of slavery, and so perhaps the author felt able to gloss over the money side of things.

[Nona · Rating 5 out of 5]

“But the siege guns still echo. James Hamilton, John C. Calhoun, and William Gillmore Simms still walk our streets, and their voices are getting louder. If we let them go on pretending much longer that they are the voices of reason, they’ll gain ground and ground again until they shame all conscience into silence. The demagogues will divide one people into two.”

This conclusion was written in 2013. Ten years later our most extreme right and left politicians have nearly succeeded in dividing the nation into two.

[David Britten · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that pulls back the curtains of history that so many over the years either never learned about or just plain forgot about. The road to the Civil War through South Carolina was a lot more complicated than just the firing on Ft. Sumter. In fact, that nearly became the anti-climax to a long build up in the years since the Revolutionary War.

The other point taken by me is why the heck would anyone in Michigan want to continue having a county named after John C. Calhoun?

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This history was paradigm shifting for me. It helped me understand the causes of the civil war much more clearly and get rid of some previous beliefs I had held onto from reading earlier books, books which were, as I believe now, slanted toward exhonerating the South. There was definitely more going on than you find in most history books for that era!

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the first 315 pages or so, this is a 5-star book. Professor Kelly has provided an excellent history of slavery in South Carolina. In detail, he walks us through two centuries of political thought and action, and he explains pivotal moments when the future of slavery hung in the balance and how men such as John Rutledge and John C. Calhoun unfortunately fought to perpetuate slavery. I commend him heartily for his efforts.

Too bad the book doesn't end around page 315, for in the final few pages, he reverts from historian to leftist commentator, spouting the typical leftist line. He quips that "the shadow of the 1830s seems to linger," and "cynical politicians are trying once again to disqualify black voters." In his view: "Everywhere we hear the old bogus talk of defiance, resistance to tyranny, and devotion to the Constitution." He tells us that apparently anyone opposed to Obama or the Democratic party is "getting louder" and attempting to "shame all conscience into silence" with the goal of dividing "one people in two."

In the first 315 pages, Professor Kelly does a wonderful job in illustrating how the "political correctness" that was practiced by South Carolinians between the 1830s and 1860s locked a generation into the firm belief that slavery was good and drove the South to secession. In an ideal world, every American should understand and appreciate the fact that such extremism and intolerance of dissent as was practiced during that period inevitably leads to tragedy. Much is said about the virtues of "diversity" in today's world, but (like the antebellum South Carolina elite) very few people who promote diversity really appreciate "diversity of opinion." They demand conformity to their belief or else.

Unfortunately, Professor Kelly fails to appreciate this fact. If he did, perhaps he would acknowledge that the total intolerance of dissent practiced by the modern American left, led by Obama and other national leftists, including the media, is straight out of the playbook of the antebellum South Carolina political elite.

Bottom line: read, enjoy, and learn from the history that is documented in this book. Just be prepared for the MSNBC-like conclusion.

[Stephen Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focused and more concise than Freehling. Kelly does a good job in setting forth the details of the intellectual foundations of the Southern extremist position that led to the Civil War. It could have used some more time looking at the immediate pre-war period, rather than jumping from the 1830s to the 1860 Democratic Convention. There are a few stylistic ticks that detract. More than once Kelly introduces a personage by last name, e.g., Pinckney without specifying a first name or providing more detail to establish who this is. Associated with this, the Pinckneys are indexed by first name rather than by last. The book also is a bit too insistent on detailing the parallel to current politics.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not recoomend this book.Obviously, a lot of research was conducted by the author for the book but he just could not convey that research into an interesting book. The information in the chapters seemed to jump around and was difficult to follow at times. The last chapter "War" was probably the best written. Disappointing.

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly provides deep context on the hearts and minds of Charlestonians regarding slavery from the time of the revolutionary war to the civil war, beliefs that resonate with far too many in this state still today.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In light of the ongoing struggles in our country, this book is fascinating. I highly recommend it for perspective!