Decade of Discord: Presidential Election of 1860, The
John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry is a divisive and controversial aspect of the politics leading to the 1860 election. Abraham Lincoln speaks out against slavery in an 1859 tour that launches his candidacy. Meanwhile the Democratic party splits in...
Decade of Discord: Mini Civil War Rages over Kansas Vote
Outsiders attempt to influence territorial elections in Kansas in 1855 and as a result a pro-slavery territorial legislature is fraudulently elected. President Pierce decides to accept election results rather than intervene and stir up trouble, but ...
Decade of Discord: Transcontinental Railroad, The
Democrat Franklin Pierce wins the presidency in 1852 vowing to maintain national harmony. But as Western territories once considered unfit for cultivation begin to open up, questions of slave versus free again take center stage. Even the route of th...
Decade of Discord: Dred Scott Decision Announced Just After Buchanan's Election in 1856
In the presidential election of 1856 Democratic party leaders, looking for a candidate who cannot be linked to bleeding Kansas, nominate James Buchanan, a party regular who was in England during the crisis. The newly-formed Republican Party nominate...
Decade of Discord: Lincoln-Douglas Debates, The
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas vie for the Illinois senate seat in 1858. Although U. S. Senators are selected by their state legislatures in the 19th century, candidates for the Senate try to increase their chances by appealing directly to thos...
Decade of Discord: Congressional Debate Over Slavery Intensifies as Country Expands
Issues related to America's expansion and westward development begin to spiral out of control in the 1850s. In Congress, aging senators Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun debate the future of union. The South fears what will happen if l...
Tattered Remains: Southern Economy, The
In an effort to diversify the economy in the years after the Civil War, Southern industry does expand. However, new jobs in the Alabama steel industry or the textile industries in the Carolinas are generally limited to white workers. Some blacks do ...
Tattered Remains: Reconstruction: The Civil War in Broader Perspective
In the generations to come, people in the North and the South will have very different perceptions about the successes and failures of Reconstruction. Its success lies mainly in the fact that the nation does reunite despite difficulties at every lev...
Battle Cry: Challenges Facing Lincoln in the Fall of 1862
The Republicans retain their majority in the mid-term elections of 1862 despite Democratic gains. Lincoln continues to have difficulties with inept generals. After Antietam, Lincoln fires McClellan who seems more interested in political than milita...
Pressures from Within: National Crises of 1819 and 1820 Threaten Country
1819 experiences a major economic downturn in which people lose their homes, farms and businesses. Land values, inflated by speculation, collapse. The instability of banks operating with very little of the kind of insurances financial systems now po...