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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from The Life and Times of William Lowndes Yancey: A History of Political Parties in the United States, From 1834 to 1864; Especially as to the Origin of the Confredetate State Completed truth must measure to the leader Of the South in the most interesting and decisive period of American his tory, that austere justice yet unpronounced - yet a blank, most confusing, in the on-rushing tide of American life. Whether the admitted difficulties which now, since his time, beset Republican simplicity and equities of government are of normal growth, coming out from the original American idea, or whether they are of the character Of revolution, as he taught, Obstructive, even fatal, to the original American idea, is the vital question which, with or without the story Of his life, must command of the Saxon lineage in America unabated and unabating inquiry. Sincere as has been my endeavor to state the truth, as yet so incomplete, relating to the political influence Of the man who, without the imprimatur of official station to recommend him to public confidence, expressed the solemn conviction of the people in his conduct, I venture to hope I have avoided that exaggeration so destructive to such a narrative. But the biographer of Yancey is met, at the outset, with another and a peculiar difficulty. W'ould he safely accept the exaltation of the orator's virtues, so enthusiastically proffered by those who knew him best and sympathized with his politi cal views and objects? If nav, what must be done with the criticisms of his foes, in which so little is found to disparage the reports of his friends and followers? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"By the 1850s Yancey was a key leader in the movement for disunion, proclaiming himself the defender and embodiment of the South. He defied Northern Democrats at their national nominating convention in 1860, rending the party and setting the stage for secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln. Selected to introduce Jefferson Davis in Montgomery as the president-elect of the Confederacy, Yancey went on to serve as the Confederacy's first diplomatic commissioner to England and France and then as a senator from Alabama before his death in 1863, just short of his forty-ninth birthday.".