Henry Hotze, Confederate Propagandist
264 pages, 6 x 9
5 Illustrations
Hardcover
Release Date:06 Jul 2008
ISBN:9780817316204
Henry Hotze, Confederate Propagandist
Selected Writings on Revolution, Recognition, and Race
University of Alabama Press
The life of Henry Hotze encompasses the history of antebellum Mobile, Confederate military recruitment, Civil War diplomacy and international intrigue, and the development of a Darwinian-based effort to find scientific evidence for differences among human “races.” When civil war broke out in his adopted country, Hotze enthusiastically assumed the mindset of the young Southern secessionist, serving first as newspaper correspondent and Confederate soldier until the Confederate government selected him as an agent, with instructions to promote the Southern cause in London. There he founded, edited, and wrote most of the content for The Index, a pro-Southern paper, as a part of the effort to convince the British Government to extend recognition to the Confederacy.
Among the arguments Hotze employed were adaptations of the scientific racism of the period, which attempted to establish a rational basis for assumptions of racial difference. After the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865, Hötze remained in Europe, where he became an active partisan and promoter of the ideas of Arthur de Gobineau (1816–1882) whose work Essai sur L’inégalité des Races Humaines was a founding document in racism’s struggle for intellectual respectability.
This work consists of a biographical essay on Hotze; his contributions to Mobile newspapers during his military service in 1861; his correspondence with Confederate officials during his service in London; articles he published in London to influence British and European opinion; and his correspondence with, and published work in support of, Gobineau.
Many historians have considered Henry Hotze one of the most effective propaganda agents of the Confederacy, yet today he remains a relatively unknown figure of the Civil War. Swiss by birth, he became a naturalized US citizen and was living in Mobile, Alabama, when the war began. Hotze served first as a newspaper correspondent and soldier in the Third Alabama Infantry. Later, he became a rebel agent with orders to promote the Southern cause in London. There he founded, edited, and wrote most of a pro-Confederate newspaper. Only 26 when the war started, this remarkable young man would become known for his resourcefulness, deft touch, and great insight into European public opinion. He was also an ardent partisan and promoter of one of the founders of scientific racism in the 19th century, Arthur de Gobineau. Burnett (Univ. of Mobile) has compiled a very interesting book about this intriguing personality. It consists of a biographical essay on Hotze, his contributions to Mobile newspapers during his military service, his correspondence with high Confederate officials as a foreign agent, articles from his London paper, and his correspondence with and published work in support of Gobineau. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.'
—CHOICE
‘This volume represents a valuable contribution to Civil War scholarship. The author’s introduction and notes will draw greater attention to one of the period’s more intriguing figures and will suggest Hotze’s status as the most cosmopolitan advocate of the Confederate cause in Europe.’
—Robert E. Bonner, author of Colors and Blood: Flag Passions of the Confederate South
Lonnie A. Burnett is Associate Professor of History at the University of Mobile and author of The Pen Makes a Good Sword: John Forsyth of theMobile Register.
