The 1850s offered the last remotely feasible chance for the United
States to steer clear of Civil War. Yet fundamental differences between
North and South about slavery and the meaning of freedom caused
political conflicts to erupt again and again throughout the decade as
the country lurched toward secession and war. With their grudging
acceptance of the Compromise of 1850 and the election of Franklin Pierce
as president in 1852, most Americans hoped that sectional strife and
political upheaval had come to an end. Extremists in both North and
South, abolitionists and secessionists, testified to the prevailing air
of complacency by their shared frustration over having failed to bring
on some sort of conflict. Both sets of zealots wondered what it would
take to convince the masses that the other side still menaced their
respective visions of liberty. And, as new divisive issues emerged in
national politics-with slavery still standing as the major
obstacle-compromise seemed more elusive than ever. As the decade
progressed, battle lines hardened. The North grew more hostile to
slavery while the South seized every opportunity to spread it.
"Immigrant Aid Societies" flourished in the North, raising money, men,
and military supplies to secure a free soil majority in Kansas.
Southerners flocked to the territory in an effort to fight off
antislavery. After his stirring vilification of the institution of
slavery, Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner was brutally attacked on
the floor of the United States Senate. Congress, whose function was to
peacefully resolve disputes, became an armed camp, with men in both
houses and from both sections arming themselves within the capitol
building. In October 1858, Senator William Henry Seward said that the
nation was headed for an "irrepressible conflict." In spite of the
progress ushered in by the decade's enormous economic growth, the
country was self destructing. The Shattering of the Union: America in
the 1850s is a concise, readable analysis and survey of t
