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Making America, A History of the United States
Making America, Third Edition
Carol Berkin, Baruch College, City University of New York
Christopher L. Miller, The University of Texas, Pan American
Robert W. Cherny, San Francisco State University
James L. Gormly, Washington and Jefferson College
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Chapter 14: Sectional Conflict and Shattered Union, 1848-1860
Don E. Fehrenbacher. Prelude to Greatness;
Lincoln in the 1850s (1962).
A well-written and interesting account of Lincoln’s
early career.
Don E. Fehrenbacher. Slavery, Law, and Politics:
The Dred Scott Case in Historical Perspective (1981).
An excellent interpretive account of this landmark
antebellum legal decision, placing it firmly into historical context.
Don E. Fehrenbacher. The Slaveholding Republic;
An Account of the United States Government’s Relations to Slavery (2000).
Completed after Fehrenbacher’s death by his
former student Ward M. McAfee, this overview of the relationship between government
and slavery makes clear the role played by federal authorities in preserving
and expanding slavery during the antebellum period.
William E. Gienapp, ed. Essays in American
Antebellum Politics, 1840-1860 (1982).
A collection of essays by the rising generation
of new political scholars. Exciting and challenging reading.
Susan-Mary Grant, North over South: Northern
Nationalism and American Identity in the Antebellum Era (2000).
Examines a rising sense of nationalism in the
American North during the antebellum period and it’s influence on how the South
was perceived and the tensions that resulted.
Michael F. Holt. The Political Crisis of
the 1850s (1978).
Arguably the best single-volume discussion
of the political problems besetting the nation during this critical decade.
Stephen B. Oates. To Purge This Land with
Blood; A Biography of John Brown (1984).
The best biography to date on John Brown, focusing
on his role in the emerging sectional crisis during the 1850s.
David Potter. The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861
(1976).
An extremely long and detailed work, but beautifully
written and informative.
James Rawley. Race and Politics: “Bleeding
Kansas” and the Coming of the Civil War (1969).
An interesting look at the conflicts in Kansas,
centering around racial attitudes in the West. Insightful and captivating reading.
Leonard L. Richards. The Slave Power: The
Free North and Southern Domination, 1780-1860 (2000).
A bold reexamination of the “Slave Power” controversy,
concluding that this was not a figment of northern paranoia but a political
reality. Engaging reading.
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