[SLAVERY] - Alpheus CROSBY

The Present Position of the Seceded States, and the Rights and Duties of the General Government in Respect to Them. An Address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Dartmouth College, July 19, 1865

Boston: Geo. C. Rand & Avery, 1865. 8vo. (8 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches). 16pp. With the author's compliments.

Disbound.

First edition of this powerful and timely address delivered just three months after the end of the American Civil War.

A respected classicist, professor, and public intellectual, Alpheus Crosby offers a sober and principled argument concerning the reintegration of the Southern states into the Union. Rejecting both harsh retribution and passive leniency, Crosby emphasizes the constitutional and moral responsibilities of the federal government in the aftermath of rebellion. Framed by the ideals of Phi Beta Kappa and the liberal education it promotes, Crosby's speech calls for a just and sustainable reconstruction policy, underscoring the need for national unity grounded in legal equity and civic virtue. A revealing document of Northern intellectual engagement with the dilemmas of Reconstruction at its inception.

Sabin 17626.

Item #39270

Price: $150.00