The Mexican War introduced vast new territories into the United States, among them California and the present-day Southwest. When gold was discovered in California in the great Gold Rush of 1849, the population swelled, and settlers petitioned for admission to the Union. But the U.S. Senate was precariously balanced with fifteen free states and fifteen slave states. Up to this point, states had been admitted in pairs, one free and one slave, to preserve that tenuous balance in the Senate. Would California be free or slave? So began a paralyzing crisis in American government, and the longest debate in Senate history. Fergus Bordewich tells the epic story of the Compromise of 1850 with skill and vigor, bringing to life two generations of senators who dominated the great debate. Luminaries such as John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay—who tried unsuccessfully to cobble together a compromise that would allow for California's admission and simultaneously put an end to the nation's agony over slavery—were nearing the end of their long careers. Rising stars such as Jefferson Davis, William Seward, and Stephen Douglas—who ultimately succeeded where Clay failed—would shape the country's politics as slavery gradually fractured the nation. The Compromise saved the Union from collapse, but it did so at a great cost. The gulf between North and South over slavery widened with the strengthened Fugitive Slave Law that was part of the complex Compromise. In America's Great Debate Fergus Bordewich takes us back to a time when compromise was imperative, when men swayed one another in Congress with the power of their ideas and their rhetoric, and when partisans on each side reached across the aisle to preserve the Union from tragedy.
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"Another skilled and very readable history by Fergus Bordewich, this on the US Congress' debate of 1850 on slavery which resulted in the compromise which gave Lincoln and Grant a decade to rise before the Civil War. This book is a candidate for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in History." — Peter (5 out of 5 stars)
"Another skilled and very readable history by Fergus Bordewich, this on the US Congress' debate of 1850 on slavery which resulted in the compromise which gave Lincoln and Grant a decade to rise before the Civil War. This book is a candidate for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in History."
“Today’s political differences pale in significance when compared with those that confronted Congress in the mid-nineteenth century. What was at stake—as Fergus Bordewich reminds us in his stimulating, richly informed America’s Great Debate—was nothing less than the survival of the nation.”
“Original in concept, stylish in execution, America’s Great Debate, by Fergus Bordewich, provides everything history readers want…[the] characters seem as vivid, human and understandable as those who walk the halls of Congress today.”
"[A] vivid, insightful history of the bitter controversy that led to the Compromise of 1850…Political history is often a hard slog, but not in Bordewich’s gripping, vigorous acount featuring a large cast of unforgettable characters with fierce beliefs.”
“Long before the crisis of 1860 there was the crisis of 1850. With page-turning narrative skill, Fergus Bordewich re-imagines this threat to the Union not only in terms of Northerners and Southerners, slavery advocates and freedom champions, but as a rite of passage between the old lions of the Senate and Young America—a transformation that would at least postpone secession and civil war. Few writers have ever brought this neglected moment to life more vividly.”
“Anyone whose eyes have glazed over at the numbing details of the Compromise of 1850 should read this compelling narrative of that famous event. Focusing on the colorful personalities who fought out the issue of slavery on the floor of the Senate in 1850, Fergus Bordewich shows how they forged a settlement that avoided war but laid the groundwork for the Civil War that came a decade later.”
Political history is often a hard slog, but not in Bordewich's gripping, vigorous account featuring a large cast of unforgettable characters with fierce beliefs.
" Numerous parallels with our current politics led me to wonder if we should have allow the Union to split back then. "
" Very good coverage of an often misunderstood time in our nations history, well worth reading "
" I highly recommend this book. I've read tons of books on the civil war, but none on the key period leading up to it. The 1850 debate is fascinating and Bordewich does a tremendous job making the story come alive. It's terrific. "
" very readable, accessible and entertaining. excellent. "
" I learned a lot more about the workings of the antebellum Congress, but this was a LOOOONNNNGGGG book. I also could have used a glossary with frequently-used terms. I kept forgetting what the Wilmot Proviso was. "
" A lively political history of the Compromise of 1850 and the roles of race and slavery in shaping its outcome. "
" This book brings to life the debates of 1850 and their participants. It serves as gripping drama as well as a study of an important time in American history. "
" I didn't care for the topic, but the writing is excellent so made it enjoyable anyway. "
" A great book about one of my favorite topics. It was great to spend the last week with my old friends Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, Sam Houston, and the incredible Henry Clay. "
" This will be useful this week in my American History class. "
Fergus M. Bordewich is the author of several books, among them America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise That Preserved the Union, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history. His articles have appeared in many magazines and newspapers. He lives in San Francisco. Visit him at FergusBordewich.com.
Norman Dietz is a writer, voice-over artist, and audiobook narrator. He has won numerous Earphones Awards and was named one of the fifty “Best Voices of the Century” by AudioFile magazine. He and his late wife, Sandra, transformed an abandoned ice-cream parlor into a playhouse, which served “the world’s best hot fudge sundaes” before and after performances. The founder of Theatre in the Works, he lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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