A War of Words: The Rhetorical Leadership of Jefferson Davis

A WAR OF WORDS

A WAR OF WORDS

The Rhetorical Leadership of Jefferson Davis

R. JARROD ATCHISON

The University of Alabama Press

Tuscaloosa

The University of Alabama Press

Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380

uapress.ua.edu

Copyright © 2017 by the University of Alabama Press

All rights reserved.

Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed to the University of Alabama Press.

Typeface: Sabon

Cover image: Jefferson Davis, three quarter length portrait, facing right.

Mathew B. Brady, approximately 1823–1896, photographer; courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C., 20450 USA

Cover design: Todd Lape/Lape Designs

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Atchison, R. Jarrod (Robert Jarrod), 1979–

Title: A war of words : the rhetorical leadership of Jefferson Davis / R. Jarrod Atchison.

Description: Tuscaloosa : The University of Alabama Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016040699| ISBN 9780817319403 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780817391164 (e book)

Subjects: LCSH: Davis, Jefferson, 1808–1889. | Confederate States of America—Politics and government. | Confederate States of America. President. | United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865.

Classification: LCC E487 .A84 2017 | DDC 973.713092—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016040699

For Ross Smith, Brad Eaton, Sam Lee, and everyone who misses them.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Decorum in Davis’s Resignation from the Senate

2. Civic Republicanism in Davis’s Inaugural Address

3. Amplification in Davis’s Defense of Conscription

4. Conspiracy Rhetoric in Davis’s Response to the Emancipation Proclamation

5. Pragmatism and Desperation in Davis’s Push for Conditional Emancipation

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgments

Academia puts a premium on scholarly work that is credited to a single author. In my experience, many support systems have to be present to enable the type of focus, time, and energy necessary to engage in any scholarly endeavor and this book is no exception. This book would not have been possible without the support of my family, colleagues, friends, and a variety of institutions. In this truncated acknowledgment section I will attempt to say thank you to the folks that had a direct impact on my ability to develop this project with the full understanding that there are certainly additional folks that worked behind the scenes that I may not even know about.

My work on Jefferson Davis started in the department of communication studies at the University of Georgia. I distinctly remember the Friday departmental happy hour that led to my initial research into Davis’s public discourse. In a conversation over cheap domestic beers at Tasty World, Dr. John Murphy suggested that before I waded into the contemporary debates over the rhetoric of Southern identity that I should consider starting with the public discourse of the Confederacy and that the speeches of Jefferson Davis seemed like an appropriate place to begin that investigation. Despite the fact that nineteenth century public address was a tad outside his wheelhouse, Dr. Murphy was and has continued to be a phenomenal resource. He was not only willing to read draft after draft of my chapters but he was also willing to dive into the public discourse of the period on his own time to help me better understand the context of the rhetorical strategies swirling through Davis’s discourse. This project simply could not have happened without his sustained attention.

Beyond the dedicated efforts of Dr. Murphy, many others were crucial in helping me develop a vision for the project. Drs. Celeste Condit, Vanessa Beasley, and Edward Panetta provided key insights into the development of the argument from a descriptive analysis of Davis’s rhetorical strategies to a substantive argument about Davis’s rhetorical leadership. Dr. John Inscoe is one of the preeminent scholars of the Civil War and generously agreed to advise me on my work on top of his other professional obligations. If this book has any appeal beyond scholars of rhetoric then it is entirely a result of Dr. Inscoe’s willingness to help me make connections to the wider audiences interested in studying the Civil War.

I have had the privilege of working with a series of colleagues who have been incredibly supportive of this project. At Trinity University I enjoyed countless conversations with Drs. Kyle Gillette, Andrew Hansen, Brooks Hill, and John McGrath. At Wake Forest University I have relied heavily on my colleagues in the Department of Communication broadly and the rhetoricians in particular to help with the preparation of this book. I could not have accomplished that without key conversations with Drs. John Llewellyn, Ron Von Burg, Alessandra Beasley Von Burg, and Meg Zulick. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Michael Hyde for serving as my mentor, colleague, and friend. His willingness to help junior faculty develop better arguments and become better writers is inspiring, and all of us who have benefitted from his counsel have an obligation to pay it forward to future generations of young scholars.

As a director of debate I can testify that it is almost impossible to balance the demands of directing a debate program with traditional academic research without a robust coaching staff who are willing to go above and beyond to provide opportunities for the director to step away and write. I cannot overestimate how lucky I have been to work with such a dedicated group of coaches and assistant coaches. When I first arrived at Wake Forest, J. P. Lacy and Alex Lamballe worked countless hours to help me with the transition back to the team while allowing me space to continue to work on this project. After J. P. and Alex, no one shouldered more of the burden of my scholarly work than Len Neighbors and Justin Green. Len joined Wake Debate and single-handedly imposed order on chaos by developing a set of protocols and systems that transitioned my daily life from a series of unpredictable crises to a more predictable set of priorities that for the first time included time for scholarship. Justin returned to Wake Debate to show us once again the path to competitive success in the fast-paced changing world of intercollegiate debate. Justin’s commitment to our debaters is unmatched and as a result I have had opportunities to focus on my writing while he listened to practice speeches and worked with our debaters to maintain the competitive success that we expect at Wake Forest debate. Throughout my entire time at Wake Forest I have also been incredibly lucky to have a series of graduate assistant coaches that have worked in the trenches day in and day out. We could not operate a squad of our size with our success without their daily sacrifices.

Speaking of daily sacrifices, I have had the benefit of working with the best administrative support a person could ask for: Virginia Bannigan, Candice Burris, Patty Lanier, Jo Lowe, Lupita Puente, and Holly Stearne. They have all provided incredible support to help me as I pursued this project. A former department chair of mine once said that faculty come and go so the real measure of a successful department is the quality of the administrative support. It is the hard work of these folks that have definitely made it possible for me to focus on this project and be a part of successful departments.

Beyond my professional world, I have benefitted from a series of close friendships with brilliant people that have been a constant source of encouragement. Drew Shermeta, Dr. Kristen McCauliff, Cagney Gentry, Alison Shermeta, Dr. Patrick Keating, and Lisa Jasinski have shared countless meals, vacations, and late night conversations that have helped me realize just how important it is to have friends who help share in the triumphs and the defeats. Drs. Calum Matheson and Chris Lundberg have been phenomenal colleagues who have demonstrated to me the power within the debate community for folks to move beyond competitors and to support each other as friends. Even though we have not been in the same city for over a decade, Dr. Ken Rufo has been a close friend and coauthor who has taken the time to contemplate and respond to every argument I have ever uttered. Every academic has to have a friend who they can count on for a brutally honest assessment and Ken is that person for me. Seth Gannon and Nate Cohn were essential compatriots in this project as my writing retreat partners. Their dedication to their crafts is unparalleled and their commitment to our writing retreats kept me accountable at key moments. Seth Gannon, in particular, was a godsend. Seth volunteered to copyedit every draft of this project while providing key suggestions that helped develop my voice as a writer. I simply cannot thank him enough for his help. Dr. Michael Lee and Erin Benson have been a constant source of inspiration, intellectual encouragement, and humor as they serve as a daily reminder of how important it is to keep perspective on the things in life that really matter.

I have had the honor and privilege of working with two of the best mentors possible. Both of them are former directors of debate who have gone on to become leaders in their institutions and in our discipline. Dr. Ed Panetta at the University of Georgia helped guide my transition from an assistant coach focused on individual wins to a director of debate responsible for the long-term vision of the program. He was patient with me as I struggled with that difficult transition that requires letting go of some of the parts of being a debate coach that draw more community praise while developing a program of scholarship that is necessary to protect a debate program in the long run. He has been a coauthor and friend throughout my work on this project with a keen eye for the strength of any given argument.

I can safely say that I would not have been able to complete this project without Dr. Allan Louden, because I would not have been an academic without his presence in my life. He recruited me as a high school debater and helped make it possible for me to attend Wake Forest University, where I discovered my interest in the Civil War during Dr. Paul Escott’s phenomenal class on the subject. Dr. Louden then encouraged me to consider graduate school rather than my original plan to jump straight into the ranks of high school debate coaching. He has been my counsel for every significant personal and professional decision I have faced since I arrived on campus at Wake Forest in the fall of 1997. Without Dr. Louden’s encouragement and support, I would not have been able to contemplate, much less complete, this work.

Last, but not least, my family has been a crucial support system. This project has occupied too many family conversations to count. My wife, Becca, has been my strongest supporter on this project and every other component of my personal and professional lives. Despite the fact that I travel constantly for debate and she is incredibly busy as the founder and co-owner of a successful business, she sacrificed her time and energy to make it possible for me to disappear to a series of writing retreats. She is the hardest-working person I know and watching her build her business has inspired me to push forward on more than one occasion. Our daughter, Piper, has an incredible role model in her mother. Piper also inspired me to carry on through the waves of edits with her infectious smile and constant barrage of giggles. In addition to Becca and Piper, my brother Justin and my sister-in-law Lisa have stomached countless impromptu conversations about rhetoric, history, and the Civil War. They are both engineers by training so I am sure that they have cringed on more than one occasion, but they have always been incredibly supportive. I am also grateful for the support of my mother-in-law, Rosie, my brothers-in-law Jared and Jonathan, and my sister-in-law Jordy. They have all been a part of the dinners, drinks, and holidays that every academic needs to escape the blinking cursor.

Finally, my parents, Bob and Pam Atchison, have supported every dream I have ever had—including my aspirations to become a professor. My mother’s commitment to the Shreveport Regional Arts Council taught me the value of true hard work and the importance of developing creativity as a leadership skill. She is one of the most impressive leaders I know and her hard work will pay dividends for her communities for generations to come. My father is a brilliant business and salesperson who prepared me for the life of rejection that accompanies academia. He taught me that every no is just one step closer to a yes and that persistence often matters more than anything else. He has dropped everything to help me on so many occasions that I cannot keep track of them much less account for them here. I have no doubt that I will never fully understand the depth of their sacrifice over the years.

This book was supported by the John Rogers Faculty Fellowship in the Department of Speech and Drama at Trinity University, a Trinity University Summer Research Stipend, a Graduate School Dean’s Award at the University of Georgia, and a Wake Forest University junior faculty sabbatical. I would like to also thank the Southern Communication Journal and Contemporary Argument and Debate, which published earlier versions of the chapters on Davis’s resignation and conditional emancipation.

Introduction

Has there ever been another historical crisis of the magnitude of 1861–1865 in which so many people were so articulate?

—Edmund Wilson, Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War

By December 20, 1860, Jefferson Davis had built an impressive resume. He had taken advantage of his family’s wealth and power to pursue an admirable career at West Point. He propelled himself into the national spotlight as a hero in the Mexican-American War. He used his national fame to forge a political career that included the prestigious positions of secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce and US senator from Mississippi. He was even rumored to be a future presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. These achievements, however, were overshadowed by the events that followed December 20, 1860, when the state of South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession. On that fateful day South Carolina helped set in motion a political and social rebellion that threatened to dismantle the United States of America. By accepting the Presidency of the Confederate States of America and holding that position throughout the Civil War, sometimes over the objection of his political opponents, Jefferson Davis cemented his legacy as leader of the largest and most destructive rebellion in American history.

The thesis of this book is that as the rhetorical leader of the Confederacy, Davis was shortsighted. Throughout his time as president of