Edward Conrad Smith, The Borderland in the Civil War (New York: MacMillan Company, 1927).

SYNOPSIS:

Smith argues that the Borderland constituted a distinct and homogeneous region of approximately 5 million white people. The region had interests with both the North and the South but was more cohesive and united within than with either section. Smith suggests that slavery as an issue remained unimportant in the Borderland until the secession crisis, when the issue of slavery was ripped from its normal context as just one of a cluster of issues. Parts of the Borderland, he argues, "were [geographically] different without being disunited." Smith also argues that white people of the Borderland were "much less attached to slavery than those of the South." (31)

EXCERPT:

"The Civil War has usually been described as a conflict between two wholly distinct sections, abruptly divided by state boundary lines. It grew out of the controversy over slavery, it is said, and was waged on the one side by slaveholders and their misguided neighbors, while on the other side the people of the North fought to emancipate the slaves and maintain the Union. Such a view, though a natural one, gives an incorrect impression of the character of the struggle. In the first place, the boundary between the sections, throughout most of its course was artificial. . . . In the second place, there was in the beginning, and there existed during the whole course of the war, a middle section in which the question of slavery was unimportant compared with other issues. . . . This great homogeneous section, extending almost the whole width of the country, had it in its power to determine the outcome of the Civil War. Its white population was nearly as great at that of the eleven seceded States." (1-2)

"Viewing the results of the election in the Borderland as a whole, two facts stand out with great distinctness. The first was the relatively slight change that took place in the former party alignments, which indicates in itself that the issue of union or separatism was not popularly regarded as the chief one of the campaign. The second was the conservative attitude of the voters. In practically every section of the Borderland they expressed their preferences for Douglas or Bell, the two candidates who emphasized in their appeals for support the necessity of continuing the policies of compromise and conciliation in settling sectional differences." (75)

RELATIONSHIP:

We find Smith's interest in the Borderland as a distinct region compelling. Smith's work discusses climate, natural geography, transportation, markets, and ethnicity. We do not support Smith's argument that slavery was of "slight importance" in the region, that slave labor was "utterly unsuited" to wheat production and "out of the question" for corn.

"Although Franklin's wealth was concentrated in its rural agricultural commodities, the county was a commercial hub with numerous businesses and shops more densely concentrated than its Southern counterpart."