The Political Crisis of the 1850s

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The Political Crisis of the 1850s is written by Michael Fitzgibbon Holt and published by John Wiley & Sons. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0471408409 (ISBN 10) and 9780471408406 (ISBN 13).

"Here is a significant new interpretation of antebellum politics and the causes of the War Between the States. Examining American political development from 1820-1861, this concise, provocative book traces the dynamics of the interparty conflict that first contained sectional controversy, and then aggravated it. Holt provides an original interpretation of the failure of the Whig-Democratic party structure in the 1850s. He connects these developments with the obsession of Americans in both North and South to perpetuate republican self-government. The author argues that this obsession was transformed into a frenzy by the temporary loss of confidence in the political process, finally driving countrymen to the point of killing each other in 1861. Along the way, Holt reassesses the role of slavery and the problem of race, the nature of the early Republican party, the interaction of national and state levels of government and more. Tough-minded and analytical, he combines the best of the ideological and the behavioral approaches to the era, advancing an arresting new theory on the most celebrated breakdown of the American democratic system."--Publisher.