Recollections Of Alexander H. Stephens: His Diary Kept When A Prisoner At Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, 1865

For years I was indoctrinated, no…I was brainwashed on Stephens and his most famous Cornerstone speech of how slavery was the cornerstone of the Confederacy. After reading this book, my attitude has changed. It is obvious Stephens was a constitutional man, that he believed in the constitution, it’s protections, and what it actually means. He takes his beliefs from the original founders. Stephens had a much clearer understanding of the US constitutions than did his counterparts in the Union. He addresses his speech and how it was “extemporaneous” and published with “several glaring errors.” He addresses secession and explains how each state has the right to voluntarily leave the Union just as it voluntarily joined. He was adamantly a Union man and voted against secession at the Georgia convention. Yet, because he was a citizen of Georgia first, he followed his state. Reading this book will show you that in his words, while slavery was an occasion for secession, it surely was not the reason, which was violations of the constitution. For those who would say that he changed his mind because the south had been beaten, this was a personal diary that he did not expect to be published (it was unheard of until 1910) so he had no reason to lie to himself. This is a must read for a student of history from that time…but you must read it because you will not hear it taught in schools, colleges or universities.