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In the 1830s slavery was so deeply entrenched that it could not even be discussed in Congress, which had enacted a "gag rule" to ensure that anti-slavery petitions would be summarily rejected. This stirring book chronicles the parliamentary battle to bring "the peculiar institution" into the national debate, a battle that some historians have called "the Pearl Harbor of the slavery controversy." The campaign to make slavery officially and respectably debatable was waged by John Quincy Adams who spent nine years defying gags, accusations of treason, and assassination threats. In the end he made his case through a combination of cunning and sheer endurance. Telling this story with a brilliant command of detail, Arguing About Slavery endows history with majestic sweep, heroism, and moral weight."Dramatic, immediate, intensely readable, fascinating and often moving."--New York Times Book Review

"Scholars and general readers alike will admire Mr. Miller's achievement in constructing an inspiring tale, one likely to imbue its audience with a sense of pride in the workings of American government and a renewed commitment to belief in its possibilities."

Drew Gilpin Faust, New York Times Book Review, 01/21/1996

"Stunning....Mr. Miller does a masterful job."

Washington Times

Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress: Search Results