Valediction

Examines the life and writings of antebellum thinker Henry Hughes (1829-1862), whose defense of slavery was only one piece of his larger vision for a new social order he called warranteeism. Ambrose (history, Hamilton College) traces Hughes' life, from his birth in Port Gibson, Mississippi through his participation in public debates just before the Civil War. He argues that Hughes' ideas foreshadowed the modern authoritarian state. They also give a flavor of Southern proslavery intellectual life, however disquieting it may be. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR