America's great debate : Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the compromise that preserved the Union / Fergus M. Bordewich.
The spellbinding story behind the longest debate in U.S. Senate history: the Compromise of 1850, which brought together Senate luminaries on the eve of the Civil War in a desperate effort to save the Union.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781439124611
- ISBN: 1439124612
- Physical Description: x, 480 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
- Edition: 1st Simon & Schuster pbk. ed.
- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2012, 2013.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | "A frenzy seized my soul" -- One bold stroke -- "Order! Order! Order!" -- "That demon question" -- "Ultima Thule" -- Old Harry -- "We have another epidemic" -- "The city of magnificent intentions" -- Deadlock -- The godlike Daniel -- "A great soul on fire" -- "Wounded eagle" -- "Secession! Peaceable secession!" -- "A higher law" -- "God deliver me from such friends" -- "He is not dead, sir" -- "Let the assassin fire!" -- Filibusters -- "A legislative saturnalia" -- A pact with the Devil -- "War, open war" -- "All is paralysis" -- The omnibus overturned -- "A steam engine in britches" -- "Break your masters' locks" -- "It is time we should act" -- Triumphs -- "A scandalous outrage" -- The reckoning. |
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- 1 of 1 copy available at Kirtland Community College.
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Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kirtland Community College Library | E 423 .B67 2012 | 30775305529753 | General Collection | Available | - |
America's Great Debate : Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union
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Summary
America's Great Debate : Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union
The "stimulating, richly informed" ( The Wall Street Journal ) story behind the Compromise of 1850, which preserved the Union on the eve of the Civil War--"original in concept, stylish in execution...provides everything history readers want....The characters seem as vivid, human, and understandable as those who walk the halls of Congress today" ( The Washington Post) . The Mexican War introduced vast new territories into the United States, including California and the present-day Southwest. When California settlers petitioned for admission to the Union, Congress was presented with a seemingly intractable dilemma: with the Senate precariously balanced at fifteen free states and fifteen slave states, would California be free or slave? So began an unprecedented crisis in American government and the longest debate in Senate history. Fergus Bordewich tells the epic story of the Compromise of 1850 with skill and vigor, bringing to life two generations of senators who dominated the great debate. Luminaries such as John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay were nearing the end of their long careers, while rising stars such as Jefferson Davis, William Seward, and Stephen Douglas would shape the country's politics as slavery gradually fractured the nation. The Compromise saved the Union from collapse, but it did so at a great cost. America's Great Debate takes us back to a time when political compromise was not only possible, but imperative for the survival of the nation.