In 1900, there was a general agreement among Southerners on the need for a comprehensive history of the Southern states. It had been and was a nation, sharing beliefs, traditions, and culture. This series, originally published in 1909, is a record of the South's part in the making of the American nation. It portrays the character, the genius, the achievements, and the progress in the life of the Southern people. This volume, chronicling the South's political development, has been organized from three viewpoints. The first deals with interrelationships among the Southern colonies and the relationship with the mother country. The second part addresses the tragic intersectional dispute of the Civil War era, when the South attempted to retain the original interpretation of the Constitution and fundamental laws of the Union. The final section explores the colonies' relationships with foreign governments from the colonial era until 1900.