Disunion!: The Coming of the American Civil War, 1789-1859

by Elizabeth R. Varon

Overview

In the decades of the early republic, Americans debating the fate of slavery often invoked the specter of disunion to frighten their opponents. As Elizabeth Varon shows, “disunion” connoted the dissolution of the republic — the failure of the founders' effort to establish a stable and lasting representative government. For many Americans in both the North and the South, disunion was a nightmare, a cataclysm that would plunge the nation into the kind of fear and misery that seemed to pervade the rest of the world. For many others, however, disunion was seen as the main instrument by which they could achieve their partisan and sectional goals. Varon blends political history with intellectual, cultural, and gender history to examine the ongoing debates over disunion that long preceded the secession crisis of 1860–61.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807887189
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/15/2008
Series:	Littlefield History of the Civil War Era
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	472
Lexile:	1370L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Elizabeth R. Varon is professor of history at the University of Virginia.
Elizabeth R. Varon is professor of history at Temple University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Prologue 17

Part I 1789-1836

1 The Language of Terrifying Prophecy: Disunion Debates in the Early Republic 31

2 We Claim Our Rights: The Advent of Abolitionism 55

3 Ruinous Tendencies: The Anti-Abolition Backlash 87

Part II 1837-1850

4 The Idea Will Become Familiar: Disunion in the Era of Mass Party Politics 127

5 Oh for a Man Who Is a Man: Debating Slavery's Expansion 165

6 That Is Revolution!: The Crisis of 1850 199

Part III 1851-1859

7 Beneath the Iron Heel: Fugitive Slaves and Bleeding Kansas 235

8 To Consummate Its Boldest Designs: The Slave Power Confronts the Republicans 273

9 War to the Knife: Images of the Coming Fight 305

Epilogue: The Rubicon Is Passed: The War and Beyond 337

Notes 349

Bibliography 401

Index 431

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An excellent history that is well balanced and fairly presents all sides. . . . Recommend[ed] . . . to all Civil War readers as an essential foundation to understanding why the war came and many of the decisions of 1860 to 1862." —James Durney, independent Book Reviewer

This exciting book puts North and South, politics and ideas, abolitionists and secessionists into conversation across the entire era between the Constitution and the Civil War — and by doing so explains a crucial part of American history. This is a story of great importance, powerfully told." —Edward L. Ayers, president, University of Richmond

From the moment the American union was created in 1789, threats and fears of disunion pervaded the polity. At the root of these fears lay the paradox of a slaveholding nation founded on a charter of freedom. With great clarity, Elizabeth Varon shows how sixty years of disunion rhetoric centered on slavery set the stage for secession and war." —James M. McPherson, author of Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief

Editorial Reviews

“Varon fulfills her goal of distinguishing disunion from secession and exploring the multifaceted meanings of the term. . . . She eminently succeeds in showing how disunion evolved from a 'prophecy' that no one wanted fulfilled to the fire-eaters' 'program.'”—American Historical Review

“A compelling argument about the political significance of language. . . Speaks to specialists and remains approachable for undergraduates, scholars in other fields, and general readers.”—Common-Place

“A cogently reasoned intellectual history of a frequently misunderstood historical term. . . . Varon successfully weaves together political debates, contemporary journalism, literary fiction and nonfiction, sermons from pulpits of the nation’s leading churches and other sources of popular culture.”—Civil War Times

“Varon’s success in setting her analysis of disunion rhetoric against a comprehensive historiographical backdrop is exceptional. Meticulously researched and beautifully assembled, Disunion will become a standard text for students and scholars interested in this tumultuous chapter in American history.”—North & South

“[A] very important book. . . . Well-written and carefully documented and will be imminently useful to undergraduate and graduate classrooms alike.”—Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

“Installs [the premise of disunion] by weaving the country’s beginnings with the immediate, and profound, philosophical differences that existed between the agrarian, slaveholding South and the industrialized North.”—Anniston Star

“Highly readable political, social, and intellectual history at its best. . . . Highly recommended.”—CHOICE

“In scope, authority, and lucidity, this book . . . deserves to be ranked alongside some of the landmark studies of Civil War causation. . . . As good an account of the worldview of antebellum Americans as one can read.”—H-Civil War

“A broad study. . . . Strong both in illuminating operative gender and racial perspectives and in presenting in some detail the views and methods of presentation and activism of many figures who will be unfamiliar even to most American historians, but who, as this book demonstrates, should not be ignored.”—Reviews in American History

“Highly engaging. . . . Makes good use of recent historical literature to produce a synthetic and balanced account of the politics of disunion in the American republic.”—Civil War Book Review

From the Publisher