A Fire-Eater’s Courage & Contradictions: Edmund Ruffin

Although Virginia secessionist Edmund Ruffin would do whatever he could to help fan the flames of Southern hysteria in response to the John Brown raid and Abraham Lincoln’s election, he had a surprisingly different response to the Nat Turner revolt, taking a lonely stand to defend a falsely accused slave and denouncing the “community insanity“ sweeping the South. Subscribe to @antebellumetc and learn more of the story at #antebellum #history #civilwar #secession