| The Fate of Their Country: Politicians, Slavery Extension, and the Coming of the Civil War Contributor(s): Holt, Michael F. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0809044390 ISBN-13: 9780809044399 Publisher: Hill & Wang OUR PRICE: $14.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2005 Annotation: How partisan politics lead to the Civil War What brought about the Civil War? Leading historian Michael F. Holt convincingly offers a disturbingly contemporary answer: partisan politics. In this brilliant and succinct book, Holt distills a lifetime of scholarship to demonstrate that secession and war did not arise from two irreconcilable economies any more than from moral objections to slavery. Short-sighted politicians were to blame. Rarely looking beyond the next election, the two dominant political parties used the emotionally charged and largely chimerical issue of slavery's extension westward to pursue reelection and settle political scores, all the while inexorably dragging the nation towards disunion. Despite the majority opinion (held in both the North and South) that slavery could never flourish in the areas that sparked the most contention from 1845 to 1861-the Mexican Cession, Oregon, and Kansas-politicians in Washington, especially members of Congress, realized the partisan value of the issue and acted on short-term political calculations with minimal regard for sectional comity. War was the result. Including select speeches by Lincoln and others, "The Fate of Their Country" openly challenges us to rethink a seminal moment in America's history. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - 19th Century - History | United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877) - Political Science |
| Dewey: 973.711 |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.5" W x 8.1" (0.40 lbs) 192 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1800-1850 - Chronological Period - 1851-1899 - Topical - Civil War - Chronological Period - 19th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: How partisan politics lead to the Civil War What brought about the Civil War? Leading historian Michael F. Holt convincingly offers a disturbingly contemporary answer: partisan politics. In this brilliant and succinct book, Holt distills a lifetime of scholarship to demonstrate that secession and war did not arise from two irreconcilable economies any more than from moral objections to slavery. Short-sighted politicians were to blame. Rarely looking beyond the next election, the two dominant political parties used the emotionally charged and largely chimerical issue of slavery's extension westward to pursue reelection and settle political scores, all the while inexorably dragging the nation towards disunion. Despite the majority opinion (held in both the North and South) that slavery could never flourish in the areas that sparked the most contention from 1845 to 1861-the Mexican Cession, Oregon, and Kansas-politicians in Washington, especially members of Congress, realized the partisan value of the issue and acted on short-term political calculations with minimal regard for sectional comity. War was the result. Including select speeches by Lincoln and others, The Fate of Their Country openly challenges us to rethink a seminal moment in America's history. |
Contributor Bio(s): Holt, Michael F.: - Michael F. Holt is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia. He is the author of six books, including the award-winning The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party and By One Vote: The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. |