Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens' "Cornerstone Speech"

The Civil War was by far the most costly war in terms of human life ever fought by the United States, and the events that precipitated this conflict on U.S. soil included the succession of seven Southern states by March 1861 to form the Confederate States of America. With President Jefferson Davis leading the way, his vice president, Alexander Stephens, delivered a speech in support of the Southern cause including assurances that the new constitution was an improvement on the old, and that commercial enterprises were free to engage in interstate and international commerce at their discretion. Citing concerns over Northern superiority in infrastructure that would make prosecuting the war challenging, the vice president also assured his audience that enormous investments had already been made throughout the South and that more would be made in the future. In sum, this speech was a...
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