{"product_id":"congress-and-the-crisis-of-the-1850s-hardcover","title":"Congress and the Crisis of the 1850s - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePaul Finkelman\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the long decade from 1848 to 1861 America was like a train speeding down the track, without an engineer or brakes. The new territories acquired from Mexico had vastly increased the size of the nation, but debate over their status-and more importantly the status of slavery within them-paralyzed the nation. Southerners gained access to the territories and a draconian fugitive slave law in the Compromise of 1850, but this only exacerbated sectional tensions. Virtually all northerners, even those who supported the law because they believed that it would preserve the union, despised being turned into slave catchers. In 1854, in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Congress repealed the ban on slavery in the remaining unorganized territories. In 1857, in the \u003ci\u003eDred Scott\u003c\/i\u003e case, the Supreme Court held that all bans on slavery in the territories were unconstitutional. Meanwhile, northern whites, free blacks, and fugitive slaves resisted the enforcement of the 1850 fugitive slave law. In Congress members carried weapons and Representative Preston Brooks assaulted Senator Charles Sumner with a cane, nearly killing him. This was the decade of the 1850s and these were the issues Congress grappled with.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis volume of new essays examines many of these issues, helping us better understand the failure of political leadership in the decade that led to the Civil War.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eContributors\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Spencer R. Crew\u003cbr\u003e Paul Finkelman\u003cbr\u003e Matthew Glassman\u003cbr\u003e Amy S. Greenberg\u003cbr\u003e Martin J. Hershock\u003cbr\u003e Michael F. Holt\u003cbr\u003e Brooks D. Simpson\u003cbr\u003e Jenny Wahl\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaul Finkelman\u003c\/b\u003e is an expert on constitutional history, the law of slavery, and the American Civil War. He coedits the Ohio University Press series New Approaches to Midwestern Studies and is the president of Gratz College.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDonald R. Kennon\u003c\/b\u003e is the former chief historian and vice president of the United States Capitol Historical Society. He is editor of the Ohio University Press series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789-1801.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 264\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 9.4 x 6.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 13, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52618717266227,"sku":"9780821419779","price":106.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/S2FOQThpelNwMnN2M3U3djkyV1FYZz09.webp?v=1761908232","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/congress-and-the-crisis-of-the-1850s-hardcover","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}