Liberty and Slavery

William J. Cooper, Jr., is Boyd Professor of History at Louisiana State University, where he has taught since 1968. He is the author of Jefferson Davis, American; The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828-1856; and The Conservative Regime: South Carolina, 1877-1890 and coauthor of The American South: A History. Cooper also has edited three books, including Writing the Civil War: The Quest to Understand. Cooper lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.