MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 04236cam a2200493 i 4500
001 2014033402
003 DLC
005 20150919082129.0
008 150126s2015 mdu b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2014033402
020 $a9781421416526 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
020 $a1421416522 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
020 $a9781421416533 (paperback : acid-free paper)
020 $a1421416530 (paperback : acid-free paper)
020 $z9781421416540 (electronic)
020 $z1421416549 (electronic)
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$erda$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $an-us-mo$an-us---
050 00 $aE373$b.V23 2015
082 00 $a973.5/4$223
084 $aHIS036000$aHIS036090$aSOC054000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aVan Atta, John Robert,$eauthor.
245 10 $aWolf by the ears :$bthe Missouri crisis, 1819-1821 /$cJohn R. Van Atta.
264 1 $aBaltimore :$bJohns Hopkins University Press,$c[2015]
300 $ax, 199 pages ;$c24 cm.
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
490 0 $aWitness to history
520 2 $a"From the early days of the republic, American leaders knew that an unpredictable time bomb--the question of slavery--lay at the heart of national politics. An implicit understanding between North and South helped to keep the issue at bay: Northern states, where slavery had been set on course for extinction via gradual emancipation, tacitly agreed to respect the property rights of Southern slaveholders; in return, Southerners essentially promised to view slaveholding as a practical evil and look for ways to get rid of it. By 1819-1820, however, westward expansion had brought the matter to a head. As Thomas Jefferson wrote at the time, a nation dealing with the politically implacable issue of slavery essentially held the 'wolf' by the ears--and could neither let go nor hang on forever. In Wolf by the Ears, John R. Van Atta discusses how the sectional conflict that led to the Civil War surfaced in the divisive fight over Missouri statehood. The first organized Louisiana Purchase territory to lie completely west of the Mississippi River and northwest of the Ohio, Missouri carried special significance for both pro- and anti-slavery advocates. Northern congressmen leaped out of their seats to object to the proposed expansion of the slave 'empire,' while slave-state politicians voiced outrage at the Northerners' blatant sectional attack. Although the Missouri confrontation ultimately appeared to end amicably with a famous compromise that the wily Kentuckian Henry Clay helped to cobble together, the passions it unleashed proved vicious, widespread, and long lasting. Van Atta deftly explains how the Missouri crisis revealed the power that slavery had already gained over American nation building. He explores the external social, cultural, and economic forces that gave the confrontation such urgency around the country, as well as the beliefs, assumptions, and fears that characterized both sides of the slavery argument. Wolf by the Ears provides students in American history with an ideal introduction to the Missouri crisis while at the same time offering fresh insights for scholars of the early republic"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 163-182) and index.
505 0 $aPrologue: Knell of the Union? -- Origins -- The West -- Impasse -- Compromises -- Aftermath -- Epilogue: Willard's Hotel.
650 0 $aMissouri compromise.
650 0 $aSlavery$xPolitical aspects$zUnited States$xHistory$y19th century.
650 0 $aSlavery$zUnited States$xExtension to the territories.
651 0 $aUnited States$xPolitics and government$y1817-1825.
651 0 $aUnited States$xTerritorial expansion$xHistory$y19th century.
650 0 $aSectionalism (United States)$xHistory$y19th century.
651 0 $aMissouri$xPolitics and government$yTo 1865.
650 7 $aHISTORY / United States / General.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aHISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI).$2bisacsh
650 7 $aSOCIAL SCIENCE / Slavery.$2bisacsh
856 42 $3Cover image$u9781421416526.jpg