The secession crisis in Virginia: A critical study of argumen

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze the divergent conceptions of the Union which developed in Virginia during the decades prior to the Civil War. The debate in Virginia regarding its role in the Union during the period immediately preceding secession was placed within the context of earlier traditions of constitutional criticism and theory. The discussion of ideology was related to the political events of the period to account for the major shift in sentiment that in April 1861 led the state into the Confederacy. By 1860, three seemingly distinct ideological factions existed in Virginia, each deeply influenced by divergent perceptions of the constitutional issues (regarding the federal-state relationship) which first emerged in the political debates of the late eighteenth century and evolved during the heightening sectional tensions of the antebellum period.;This dissertation addressed two major research questions. The first was what were the evolving constitutional theories prevalent in Virginia relating to the debates over political institutions in the early years of the republic and the sectional disputes of the antebellum period? In answering this question, an overview was given of the attitudes of leading Virginia political theorists regarding the federal-state relationship during the seventy-five years preceding the Civil War. The consideration of earlier political theory is essential to the understanding of the secession movement in all southern states, but it especially is relevant in Virginia where the ideas were most seriously debated. The second inquiry, which constituted the primary focus of this dissertation, consisted of the following questions: (1) what were the major political factions in Virginia in the period immediately preceding the Civil War; (2) what were their views regarding the Constitution and their state's relationship with the Union; (3) what were the foundations for these views; and (4) what were the respective roles of each faction in the movement toward secession? Factored into this analysis were specific issues of political conflict and a variety of social and economic considerations. Virginia was viewed as being both part of a larger movement and as operating from within its own unique set of social and political conditions.