Lincoln, the Rise of the Republicans, and the Coming of the Civil War: A Reference Guide (Guides to Historic Events in America) - Hardcover

Walters, Kerry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1610692047 ISBN 13: 9781610692045

Publisher: ABC-CLIO, 2013

Synopsis

This succinct and readable account of the heated debate over the expansion of slavery provides readers with a thorough understanding of how the Civil War was precipitated.

This book vividly depicts and clearly explains the events in the decades leading up to the Civil War that resulted from the controversy over expansion of slavery into the western territories. The chapters describe how this single issue drove a wedge through the country and spawned the creation of several new political parties, including the Republican Party; caused furious congressional debates; sparked violence in Kansas; increased sectional discord between North and South; and allowed Abraham Lincoln to rise from relative obscurity to become the first Republican president of the United States. The work also supplies two-dozen thumbnail sketches of the period's greatest statesmen and less-than-great presidents, including individuals such as James Buchanan, John C. Calhoun, Salmon P. Chase, Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, and William Henry Seward.

About this title

About the Author

Kerry Walters, PhD, is professor emeritus of philosophy at Gettysburg College. He is author or editor of over forty books, including The Underground Railroad, American Slave Revolts and Conspiracies, and Lincoln, the Rise of the Republicans, and the Coming of the Civil War.

Reviews

From the beginning of the U.S., the Founding Fathers were uncomfortable with all men are created equal and the peculiar institution of slavery. The fragile balance between North and South survived through the Compromise of 1820 and the Nullification Crisis, but each new threat brought the possibility of secession closer. The unifying figure of the time was Abraham Lincoln, who believed slavery was a moral wrong that should not be allowed to spread but not necessarily hindered in the existing slave states. As an interesting prehistory of the Civil War, chapters in this volume cover the war with Mexico, the dramatic expansion of the U.S., the situation with the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and the idea of popular sovereignty—all a foreshadowing of what was to come with the Civil War. The implosion of the Whig Party, the creation of the Republican Party, and the election of Abraham Lincoln coalesced into secession and then war. Prominent figures such as Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Henry Seward receive coverage in both the chapters and biographical articles in the section “Biographies: Personalities in the Antebellum Slavery Debate.” A chronology gives the time line to war, and the appendix contains major primary documents, mainly in the form of speeches and party platforms. The work concludes with an extensive annotated bibliography and an index. Written in a clear and understandable manner, this book is recommended for all libraries in need of a work that neatly encapsulates the events leading to the most dramatic event in the nation’s history. --Abbie Landry

Edition details

• Publisher: ABC-CLIO
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1610692047
• ISBN 13: 9781610692045
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 312