Written By: James W. Loewen & Edward H. Sebesta

Most Americans hold basic misconceptions about the Confederacy, the Civil War, and the actions of subsequent Neo-Confederates. For example, two-thirds of Americans — including most history teachers — think the Confederate States seceded for “states’ rights.” This error persists because the key documents about the Confederacy are not included in major U.S. history textbooks and therefore not widely read. This reader presents these documents, properly set in context by award-winning sociologist and historian James W. Loewen and coeditor Edward H. Sebesta, to put in perspective the mythology of the Old South.

 When South Carolina seceded, it published “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.” The document actually opposes states’ rights. Its authors argue that Northern states were ignoring the rights of slave owners as identified by Congress and in the Constitution. Similarly, Mississippi’s “Declaration of the Immediate Causes . . .” says, “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world.” Later documents in this collection show how Neo-Confederates obfuscated this truth, starting around 1890. -Adapted from publisher’s description.