A fresh study of the division in the country during 1844-1861, this book views the progress of disunion through the lens of political parties, observing their disintegration and realignment under the pressures of slavery and
antislavery. The author uses votes in Congress and national elections and census returns to demonstrate the fragmentation and breakup of the Union. The book devotes attention to the political behavior of the eleven states that formed the Confederacy and argues they possessed elements of cohesion often misread or blurred over by historians. |
