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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Area / regional studies
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The Shattering of the Union - America in the 1850s (Paperback)
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The Shattering of the Union - America in the 1850s (Paperback)
Series: The American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era
Expected to ship within 12 - 19 working days
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The 1850s offered the last remotely feasible chance for the United
States to steer clear of Civil War. Yet fundamental differences
between North and South about slavery and the meaning of freedom
caused political conflicts to erupt again and again throughout the
decade as the country lurched toward secession and war. With their
grudging acceptance of the Compromise of 1850 and the election of
Franklin Pierce as president in 1852, most Americans hoped that
sectional strife and political upheaval had come to an end.
Extremists in both North and South, abolitionists and
secessionists, testified to the prevailing air of complacency by
their shared frustration over having failed to bring on some sort
of conflict. Both sets of zealots wondered what it would take to
convince the masses that the other side still menaced their
respective visions of liberty. And, as new divisive issues emerged
in national politics-with slavery still standing as the major
obstacle-compromise seemed more elusive than ever. As the decade
progressed, battle lines hardened. The North grew more hostile to
slavery while the South seized every opportunity to spread it.
"Immigrant Aid Societies" flourished in the North, raising money,
men, and military supplies to secure a free soil majority in
Kansas. Southerners flocked to the territory in an effort to fight
off antislavery. After his stirring vilification of the institution
of slavery, Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner was brutally
attacked on the floor of the United States Senate. Congress, whose
function was to peacefully resolve disputes, became an armed camp,
with men in both houses and from both sections arming themselves
within the capitol building. In October 1858, Senator William Henry
Seward said that the nation was headed for an "irrepressible
conflict." In spite of the progress ushered in by the decade's
enormous economic growth, the country was self destructing. The
Shattering of the Union: America in the 1850s is a concise,
readable analysis and survey of t
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