| Description |
xiii, 465 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-452) and index. |
| Contents |
Preface -- Introduction -- Slavery and the founding of the republic -- Slavery in the national capital -- Slavery in American foreign relations -- African slave trade, 1789 to 1842 -- African slave trade, 1842 to 1862 -- Fugitive slave problem to 1850 -- Fugitive slave problem, 1850 to 1864 -- Slavery in the federal territories -- Republican revolution -- Conclusion. |
| Summary |
"William Lloyd Garrison argued - and many leading historians have since agreed - that the Constitution of the United States was a proslavery document. Garrison called it 'a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell.' But in The Slaveholding Republic, one of America's most eminent historians, Don E. Fehrenbacher, argues against this claim in a wide-ranging, landmark history that stretches from the Continental Congress to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Fehrenbacher ranges from sharp-eyed analyses of the deal-making behind the 'proslavery clauses' of the constitution to colorful accounts of partisan debates in Congress and heated confrontations with Great Britain (for instance, over slaves taken off American ships and freed in British ports). He shows us 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 - whether in foreign courts, on the high seas, in federal territories, or even in the District of Columbia - was consistently proslavery. The book concludes with a brilliant portrait of Lincoln. 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.'"--Dust jacket. |
| Provenance |
Gift of Professor John M. Baer. |
| Subject |
Slavery -- Political aspects -- United States -- History.
|
|
Slavery -- Political aspects. |
|
United States. |
|
History. |
|
Slavery. |
|
Slavery -- Government policy -- United States -- History.
|
|
Slavery -- Government policy. |
|
United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783.
|
|
Politics and government. |
| Chronological Term |
1775-1783 |
| Subject |
United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865.
|
| Chronological Term |
1783-1865 |
| Subject |
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
|
|
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) |
|
United States -- Politics and government -- 1865-1877.
|
| Chronological Term |
1865-1877 |
| Subject |
Constitutional history -- United States.
|
|
Constitutional history. |
|
African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- History -- 18th century.
|
|
African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. |
| Chronological Term |
18th century |
| Subject |
African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- History -- 19th century.
|
| Chronological Term |
19th century |
|
1700-1899 |
| Genre/Form |
History.
|
| Added Author |
McAfee, Ward.
|
| Other Form: |
Online version: Fehrenbacher, Don E. (Don Edward), 1920-1997. Slaveholding republic. New York : Oxford University Press, 2001 (OCoLC)606426062 |
| ISBN |
0195158059 |
|
0195141776 |
|
9780195141771 |
|
9780195158052 |
|
1195141776 |
|
