Disunion!
The Coming of the American Civil War, 1789-1859
Published on 15. November 2008
472 pages
978-0-8078-8718-9 (ISBN)
Description
In the decades of the early republic, Americans debating the fate of slavery often invoked the specter of disunion to frighten their opponents. As Elizabeth Varon shows, "disunion" connoted the dissolution of the republic - the failure of the founders' effort to establish a stable and lasting representative government. For many Americans in both the North and the South, disunion was a nightmare, a cataclysm that would plunge the nation into the kind of fear and misery that seemed to pervade the rest of the world. For many others, however, disunion was seen as the main instrument by which they could achieve their partisan and sectional goals. Varon blends political history with intellectual, cultural, and gender history to examine the ongoing debates over disunion that long preceded the secession crisis of 1860-61.
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09/2010
The University of North Carolina Press
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02/2010
The University of North Carolina Press
€61.00
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Person
Elizabeth R. Varon is professor of history at the University of Virginia.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Prologue
- PART I. 1789 - 1836
- 1 The Language of Terrifying Prophecy: Disunion Debates in the Early Republic
- 2 We Claim Our Rights: The Advent of Abolitionism
- 3 Ruinous Tendencies: The Anti-Abolition Backlash
- PART II. 1837 - 1850
- 4 The Idea Will Become Familiar: Disunion in the Era of Mass Party Politics
- 5 Oh for a Man Who Is a Man: Debating Slavery's Expansion
- 6 That Is Revolution!: The Crisis of 1850
- PART III. 1851 - 1859
- 7 Beneath the Iron Heel: Fugitive Slaves and Bleeding Kansas
- 8 To Consummate Its Boldest Designs: The Slave Power Confronts the Republicans
- 9 War to the Knife: Images of the Coming Fight
- EPILOGUE: The Rubicon Is Passed: The War and Beyond
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Y
- Z
