THE WAR IN AMERICA: BEING AN HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL ACCOUNT OF THE SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN STATES: SHOWING THE ORIGIN AND CAUSE OF THE PRESENT WITH A LARGE MAP OF THE UNITED STATES, ENGRAVED ON STEEL. BY COLONEL TAL. P. SHAFFNER, LL.D., KENTUCKY, Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., 33, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1862 PREFACE. In the preparation of this volume, we have had in view the collection of facts bearing immediately or mediately upon the present civil war in America; and we confidently believe that the reader will find herein many most singular and interesting historical details. We have not been very moderate in exposing the evil theories of American political abolitionism; nor have we failed to denounce the political integrity of those who have produced secession. The former is the cause, and the latter is the effect. We desire to warn the reader from supposing that abolitionism in America is the same as it is in England. There is a wide difference between the two. A high and commendable sense of honour is recognised in the English system. If we understand it correctly, it contemplates an equitable compensation to the owner for the slave. The American abolitionist does not propose any scheme calculated to relieve the loss to the owner, nor to ameliorate the condition of the slave. The "irrepressible conflict" between free and slave labour has been waged, not for the good of the slave, but for political power, and to effect a protective tariff. The white labour of the north has required a tariff; the slave labour of the south, free trade. |