A Confederate in Congress : The Civil War Treason Trial of Benjamin Gwinn Harris

Kastenberg, Joshua E.

McFarland & Co Inc（2016/10発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 208 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781476664897
• DDC分類 973.7

Full Description

In May 1865, the final month of the Civil War, the U.S. Army arrested and prosecuted a sitting congressman in a military trial in the border state of Maryland, though the federal criminal courts in the state were functioning. Convicted of aiding and abetting paroled Confederate soldiers, Benjamin Gwinn Harris of Maryland's Fifth Congressional District was imprisoned and barred from holding public office.

Harris was a firebrand--effectively a Confederate serving in Congress--and had long advocated the constitutionality of slavery and the right of states to secede from the Union. This first-ever book-length analysis of the unusual trial examines the prevailing opinions in Southern Maryland and in the War Department regarding slavery, treason and the Constitution's guarantee of property rights and freedom of speech.

Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. The Origins of a Maryland Secessionist

2. Harris and Secession, 1861-1863

3. Congress and the War

4. "A damning speech," the Roots of a Trial

5. The Democratic Party Convention of 1864

6. The Military Prosecution of a Congressman

7. Aftermath of the Trial, 1865-1892

Conclusion

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index