Zeb Vance: Champion of Personal Freedom

Book excerpt: "Rugged, dynamic, controversial -- Zebulon Baird Vance was one of the dominant personalities of the South for nearly half a century. Here is the first full-scale biography of this important figure. This colorful and carefully researched study centers on Vance's dedication to democratic institutions during the Civil War. He maintained unyieldingly -- alone of all the governors, North and South -- the writ of habeas corpus in its full vigor, yet it was the Governor's state, North Carolina, which made the greatest contribution in men and spirit to the Southern cause. As a staunch unionist before the war, Vance was dedicated to individual liberty. Under the Confederacy, where he was called 'the war governor of the South', he battled for personal rights. Again, in the reunited nation, he was a powerful debater in the Senate during the 1880s and 1890s"--Jacket