This is a classic narrative history of the run-up to the Civil War. I call it essential reading for anyone interested in 19th Century American history.
It all begins in understanding the Mexican War. P. 1
You have to understand the Wilmot Proviso. P. 18
Sectional conflict intensified in 1846 with the ramifications of the Mexican War. Sectional conflict has always been with us. P. 51
The details of the so-called Compromise of 1850 are not worth my trying to get it all straight. This author calls it The Armistice of 1850. Whatever. War was put for a decade. This gave the country a chance to elect Lincoln; otherwise, the Confederacy might have won. P. 90
I'd like to know more about the Know Nothings in the 1850's and their connection to the newly formed Republican Party.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 has to be the most egregious law in American history. It is stunning to think, even in 1850, that such a law could be enacted. P. 121
How successful really was the underground railroad? As usual historians disagree. P. 137
The apathy surrounding the slave act is appalling. P. 138
Hindsight is the historian's greatest asset and his greatest liability. P. 144
The sordid story of the railroad which accomplished nothing. P. 145
Popular sovereignty was a terrible failure for Douglas and the country. P. 176
Polk had also tried to purchase Cuba. P. 180
The ties between the Know Nothings and the nascent Republican Party are fascinating. P. 258
In Peoria in 1854 Lincoln admitted he had no earthly idea about what to do with the free Negro. P. 347
"By a static analysis, Lincoln was a mild opponent of slavery and a moderate defender of racial discrimination. By a dynamic analysis, he held a concept of humanity which impelled inexorably in the direction of freedom and quality." P. 354
Potter seems to say that only Lincoln could have won in 1860 and that Seward would have lost. P.
430
The fact that Lincoln was not on the ballot in the South and therefore neither he nor his representative ventured South put the region in shock when he was elected. It was easy for Southerners that an abolitionist, black Republican had been elected President. P. 439
The South did not have a realistic picture of Lincoln, and the North did not understand the severity of secession fever in the South. P. 440
The author praises Douglas for waging a heroic campaign. He alone among the candidates understood and warned the country about the gravity of the situation. P. 441,
The attack galvanized the North into patriotic action. P. 482
Confederate P.T. Beauregard directed the attack on Ft. Sumter. Senator Jeff Session's middle name is Beauregard. P. 482
The balance sheet of the war's results will never be totally calculated. P. 483
What if Lincoln had let Sumter go? P. 566
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