A Good Southerner

Wise (1806-76) was extremely active on the Virginia and national political scene from the early 1830s to the mid-1860s drawing popular support because of his projection of hopefulness and energy. Regarded as eccentric Wise is given in this study an interpretation that finds consistency in his life-long controversial and impulsive behavior. Simpson stresses Wise’s ambivalent attitude toward slaves and slave-holding authority and authority figures and Virginia and the United States.