1857-1861

"On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln's election and the Confederacy's shelling of Sumter-a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were "so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them." At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter's commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable-one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans. Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink-a dark reminder that we often don't see a cataclysm coming until it's too late"--.

Contains key facts about the life of James Buchanan from his childhood to his retirement, focusing on his political career and his term as the fifteenth president of the United States. Includes a timeline, information on the office of the president, and resources for further research.

"Tells the story of the election of 1860 and the immediate and lasting effects it had on a nation on the brink of Civil War"--Provided by publisher.

Examines the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over the topic of slavery in the summer and fall of 1858 and explores the purpose of democracy.

Examines Abraham Lincoln's pre-presidential address at Cooper Union, New York, in February 1860, placing the speech in the context of the times and discussing how Lincoln used the speech to continue his debates with rival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas.

Draws on personal and newspaper accounts, diary records, and folklore to present double portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman, discussing how the two became kindred spirits, despite their profound differences in position and circumstance during the Civil War.

Examines the seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. Discusses how these two men and their ideas represented America's quandary over the purpose of a democracy, and that this dilemma would not only lead to the Civil War, but to conflicts throughout America's future.

A selection of two speeches and seven debates originally published in The political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in the senatorial campaign of 1858 in Illinois.

A study of America in 1857, covering all the major crises of the eventful year, including a bank panic, a threatened Mormon rebellion, and the Dred Scott decision; looking at the state of the country in mid-century; and focusing on the political frauds perpetrated by proslavery Kansans, aided by President Buchanan, in their attempts to make the Kansas Territory a slave state.

Chronicles the 1860 presidential race that elected Republican Abraham Lincoln over Democrat Stephen Douglas, discussing the events and key players, and describing how Lincoln was able win over more prominent members of his party and with a low percentage of the popular vote.