As the editor in chief of the Democratic newspaper in intensely Whig Richmond, Virginia, John M. Daniel became a major editorial leader nationally for his party and a much-hated man by his detractors. A political activist, Daniel was an ardent defender of slavery, a champion of Southern rights, and an advocate of sovereignty for the Confederate states. He was also among the loudest voices speaking out against the leadership of President Jefferson Davis.

Daniel's roots were in the law. Although he was the son of a country doctor, his ancestry included Thomas Stone, a lawyer and a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and his great-uncle, with whom he lived as a teenager, was Justice Peter V. Daniel of the United States Supreme Court.

John Moncure Daniel was born in Stalford County, Virginia, on 24 October 1825 to John Moncure and Elizabeth Mitchell Daniel. At age fifteen, he went to...