Epilogue: Into the war. Structures challenged : the rise of abolitionism and antislavery -- Structure defended : the Compromise of 1850 -- Liminality erupting in the first crisis : fugitives and the northern public -- Creative liminality : writing and reading Uncle Tom's Cabin -- Transforming culture : commercializing antislavery -- Guarantees violated in the second crisis : the Kansas-Nebraska Act -- Restructuring coalescence : nativism and antislavery politics -- Confirming and consolidating new structures : the rise of the Republican Party -- Epilogue: Into the war.
Summary:
"How does political change take hold? In the 1850s, politicians and abolitionists despaired, complaining that the 'North, the poor timid, mercenary, driveling North' offered no forceful opposition to the power of the slaveholding South. And yet, as John L. Brooke proves, the North did change. Inspired by brave fugitives who escaped slavery and the cultural craze that was Uncle Tom's Cabin, the North rose up to battle slavery, ultimately waging the bloody Civil War. While Lincoln's alleged quip about the little woman who started the big war has been oft-repeated, scholars have not fully explained the dynamics between politics and culture in the decades leading up to 1861. Rather than simply viewing the events of the 1850s through the lens of party politics, 'There Is a North' is the first book to explore how cultural action -- including minstrelsy, theater, and popular literature -- transformed public opinion and political structures. Taking the North's rallying cry as his title, Brooke shows how the course of history was forever changed"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.