Politics and America in crisis [electronic resource] : the coming of the Civil War / Michaael S. Green.

9780313081743 (electronic bk.)
9780275990954

Santa Barbara, Calif. : Praeger, c2010.

English

1 online resource (xxii, 190 p.)

E459 .G793 2010eb

973.7/11

This book unravels the political developments that made the Civil War unavoidable. From the end of the Mexican American War to the first shots at Fort Sumter, the United States slowly and inexorably moved toward civil conflict. A series of escalating showdowns over slavery in the voting booth, the courtroom, and in the public mind made war between two culturally incompatible halves of the nation inevitable. This book examines the developments between 1846 and 1861 that pushed the nation to war to see what they reveal about the North, the South, the people leading them, and the issues separating them. As shown here, in the decade and a half before the actual outbreak of the war, the mostly southern Democratic Party's fortunes veered from a presidential election victory in 1852 to the shocking loss of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, an event that marked the coming of age of the young antislavery Republican Party. In examining that sharp reversal, this work covers a wide range of key events, including efforts to ban slavery in territories won in the Mexican American War, the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown's raids. It looks at the pivotal political events that played a role in the country's move toward the Civil War; Incorporates the latest scholarship about the war's causes; Spotlights important leaders of the time, including Abraham Lincoln, who was a much greater presence on the issue of slavery in the years before his election than most people realize.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Access limited to authorized users.

Reflections on the Civil War era.

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