Political and Social Essays

Louisa Susanna Cheves McCord (1810-1879) was one of the most remarkable figures in the intellectual history of antebellum America. A conservative intellectual, she broke the confines of Southern gender roles; she supported laissez-faire political economy and slavery, argued for woman's separate sphere, opposed Harriet Beecher Stowe, abhorred socialism, was a secessionist, and believed in the superiority of the white race. This volume includes her essays on slavery, secession, women's role, and political economy, fully annotated, along with an Introduction by Michael O'Brien, Chair of the Editorial Board of the Southern Texts Society. Over the past decade historians have begun to pay attention to McCord and find her indispensable to understanding American culture. Among Southerners before the Civil War, she is ranked with Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, James Madison, Sarah Grimke, John C. Calhoun, George Fitzhugh, and Frederick Douglass. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, McCord spent most of her adult life in and around Columbia. She owned and managed her own plantation, was active in the political troubles of the 1840s and 1850s, and was prominent in the intellectual circles based at South Carolina College. During the Civil War she supervised the hospital established in the college buildings, and when Federal forces captured Columbia, her house was the headquarters of General O. O. Howard, deputed by Sherman to maintain order in the city.