The Fragile Fabric of Union: Cotton, Federal Politics, and the Global Origins of the Civil War

Studies in Early American Economy and Society from the Library Company of Philadelphia

by Brian D. Schoen

In this fresh study Brian Schoen views the Deep South and its cotton industry from a global perspective, revisiting old assumptions and providing new insights into the region, the political history of the United States, and the causes of the Civil War.

Schoen takes a unique and broad approach. Rather than seeing the Deep South and its planters as isolated from larger intellectual, economic, and political developments, he places the region firmly within them. In doing so, he demonstrates that the region’s prominence within the modern world—and not its opposition to it—indelibly shaped Southern history.

The place of "King Cotton" in the sectional thinking and budding nationalism of the Lower South seems obvious enough, but Schoen reexamines the ever-shifting landscape of international trade from the 1780s through the eve of the Civil War. He argues that the Southern cotton trade was essential to the European economy, seemingly worth any price for Europeans to protect and maintain, and something to defend aggressively in the halls of Congress. This powerful association gave the Deep South the confidence to ultimately secede from the Union.

By integrating the history of the region with global events, Schoen reveals how white farmers, planters, and merchants created a "Cotton South," preserved its profitability for many years, and ensured its dominance in the international raw cotton markets. The story he tells reveals the opportunities and costs of cotton production for the Lower South and the United States.

Genres: History, Politics

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

An expert in the American Civil War, slavery and the South and early U.S. history, Brian Schoen is the James Richard Hamilton/Baker and Hostetler Professor of Humanities and chair of the Department of History at Ohio University.

Reviews

[Daniel Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for thesis. Clearly explains the rise of cotton capitalism and the tariff debates of the early 19th century.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good discussion of the importance of the cotton industry to the Old South from the founding of the United States to the Civil War. The author's thesis that an understanding of cotton growth and production is indispensable for understanding the South's approach to slavery, the federal government, secession, and foreign relations. This basic point is ably argued throughout the book. It is always nice to read something by one of your colleagues, especially when it is within your own research interests.