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Many leading historians have argued that the Constitution of the United States was a proslavery document. But in The Slaveholding Republic, one of America's most eminent historians refutes this claim in a landmark history that stretches from the Continental Congress to the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Fehrenbacher shows that the Constitution itself was more or less neutral on the issue of slavery and that, in the antebellum period, the idea that the Constitution protected slavery was hotly debated (many Northerners would concede only that slavery was protected by state law, not by federal law). Nevertheless, he also reveals that U.S. policy abroad and in the territories was consistently proslavery. Fehrenbacher makes clear why Lincoln's election was such a shock to the South and shows how Lincoln's approach to emancipation, which seems exceedingly cautious by modern standards, quickly evolved into a "Republican revolution" that ended the anomaly of the United States as a "slaveholding republic."
This book discusses the institution of slavery and how it relates to the Constitution.
Abridged ed. of the author's The Dred Scott case, its significance in American law and politics.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1979, The Dred Scott Case is a masterful examination of the most famous example of judicial failure--the case referred to as "the most frequently overturned decision in history."On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Supreme Court's decision against Dred Scott, a slave who maintained he had been emancipated as a result of having lived with his master in the free state of Illinois and in federal territory where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise. The decision did much more than resolve the fate of an elderly black man and his family: Dred Scott v. Sanford was the first instance in which the Supreme Court invalidated a major p...
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This is the first comprehensive collection of remarks attributed to Abraham Lincoln by his contemporaries. Much of what is known or believed about the man comes from such utterances, which have been an important part of Lincoln biography. About his mother, for instance, he never wrote anything beyond supplying a few routine facts, but he can be quoted as stating orally that she was the illegitimate daughter of a Virginia aristocrat. Similarly, there is no mention of Ann Rutledge in any of his writings, but he can be quoted as saying when he was president-elect, “I did honestly and truly love the girl and think often, often of her now.” Did Lincoln make a conditional offer to evacuate For...
Tradition, Conflict, and Modernization: Perspectives on the American Revolution aims to expand knowledge on the intellectual character of the Revolution, its relation to the trend of modernization, and its standing as a manifestation of social conflict. The book discusses the American revolution in national tradition; the collective action in England and America in 1765-1775, and back country rebellions and the homestead ethic in America in 1740-1799. The text also describes the perspective of modernization related to the American revolution, modernization, and human. Historians will find the book invaluable.
''For Lincoln specialists, The Historian's Lincoln deepens and sharpens familiar arguments. For nonspecialists, it is the most efficient and enjoyable way to 'get right' with Lincoln.'' -- Robert E. McGlone, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography ''Provides an excursion to the frontiers of Lincoln scholarship, and insight into the passions of those who labor there. . . . Rarely do the products of a scholarly symposium so richly deserve placement on public and academic library shelves.'' -- John Y. Simon, Choice ''Authoritative, well written, and spiced by informed debate. In short, Lincoln's depth and height as a figure in history are well measured by this distinguished volume, not only in its several parts and authors, but also as a whole.'' -- Robert V. Bruce, author of Lincoln and the Tools of War
Nothing is "pure" in America, and, indeed, the rich ethnic mix that constitutes our society accounts for much of its amazing vitality. Werner Sollors's new book takes a wide-ranging look at the role of "ethnicity" in American literature and what that literature has said--and continues to say--about our diverse culture. Ethnic consciousness, he contends, is a constituent feature of modernism, not modernism's antithesis. Discussing works from every period of American history, Sollors focuses particularly on the tension between "descent" and "consent"--between the concern for one's racial, ethnic, and familial heritage and the conflicting desire to choose one's own destiny, even if that choice ...