Intellectual Life and the American South, 1810-1860 : An Abridged Edition of Conjectures of Order

Michael O’Brien has masterfully abridged his award-winning two-volume intellectual history of the Old South, Conjectures of Order, depicting a culture that was simultaneously national, postcolonial, and imperial, influenced by European intellectual traditions, yet also deeply implicated in the making of the American mind. Here O’Brien succinctly and fluidly surveys the lives and works of many significant Southern intellectuals, including John C. Calhoun, Louisa McCord, James Henley Thornwell, and George Fitzhugh. Looking over the period, O'Brien identifies a movement from Enlightenment ideas of order to a Romanticism concerned with the ambivalences of personal and social identity, and finally, by the 1850s, to an early realist sensibility. He offers a new understanding of the South by describing a place neither monolithic nor out of touch, but conflicted, mobile, and ambitious to integrate modern intellectual developments into its tense and idiosyncratic social experience.Michael O’Brien has masterfully abridged his award-winning two-volume intellectual history of the Old South, Conjectures of Order, depicting a culture that was simultaneously national, postcolonial, and imperial, influenced by European intellectual traditions, yet also deeply implicated in the making of the American mind. Here O’Brien succinctly and fluidly surveys the lives and works of many significant Southern intellectuals, including John C. Calhoun, Louisa McCord, James Henley Thornwell, and George Fitzhugh. Looking over the period, O'Brien identifies a movement from Enlightenment ideas of order to a Romanticism concerned with the ambivalences of personal and social identity, and finally, by the 1850s, to an early realist sensibility. He offers a new understanding of the South by describing a place neither monolithic nor out of touch, but conflicted, mobile, and ambitious to integrate modern intellectual developments into its tense and idiosyncratic social experience. Contents......Page 6 Foreword......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Introduction: The Position and Course of the South......Page 14 1 The Softened Echo of the World......Page 32 2 All the Tribes, All the Productions of Nature......Page 66 3 A Volley of Words......Page 110 4 The Shape of a History......Page 154 5 Pride and Power......Page 204 6 Philosophy and Faith......Page 272 Epilogue: Cool Brains......Page 328 Notes......Page 350 A......Page 374 B......Page 375 C......Page 377 D......Page 380 F......Page 381 G......Page 382 H......Page 384 J......Page 385 L......Page 386 M......Page 387 N......Page 389 P......Page 390 R......Page 392 S......Page 393 T......Page 396 W......Page 397 Z......Page 398 Introduction : The Position And Course Of The South -- The Softened Echo Of The World -- All The Tribes, All The Productions Of Nature -- A Volley Of Words -- The Shape Of A History -- Pride And Power -- Philosophy And Faith -- Epilogue : Cool Brains. Michael O'brien ; Foreword By Daniel Walker Howe. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Mode Of Access: World Wide Web. This volume is an abidgement of Michael O'Brien's two-volume intellectual history of the Old South, 'Conjectures of Order', which depicts a culture that was simultaneously national, postcolonial, and imperial, influenced by European intellectual traditions, yet also deeply implicated in the making of the American mind Presenting intellectual history of the Old South, this title depicts a culture that was simultaneously national, postcolonial, and imperial, influenced by European intellectual traditions, yet also deeply implicated in the making of the American mind. "A deeply impressive effort. It will stand as one of the most important books in antebellum Southern intellectual life for a long time."--Civil War History