Stephen A. Douglas and Antebellum Democracy

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-1-107-63901-0
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 220 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 354 g

This thematic biography demonstrates how Stephen Douglas's path from a conflicted youth in Vermont to dim prospects in New York to overnight stardom in Illinois led to his identification with the Democratic Party and his belief that the federal government should respect the diversity of states and territories. His relationships with his mother, sister, teachers, brothers-in-law, other men and two wives are explored in depth. When he conducted the first cross-country campaign by a presidential candidate in American history, few among the hundreds of thousands that saw him in 1860 knew that his wife and he had just lost their infant daughter or that Douglas controlled a large Mississippi slave plantation. His story illuminates the gap between democracy then and today. The book draws on a variety of previously unexamined sources.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Quitt, Martin

Quitt, Martin H.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Adolescence in Vermont; 2. Schooling, learning and passing the bar; 3. Family influence, stress and bonds; 4. Democratic prodigy in Illinois; 5. Douglas's constitutionalism, part i: noncitizen voting, apportionment and internal improvements; 6. Douglas's constitutionalism, part ii: slavery in the territories; 7. The campaign of 1860 and the code against campaigning; 8. In Lincoln's shadow; 9. Douglas's Mississippi slaves.

Über Autor(innen)

Quitt, Martin H.
Martin H. Quitt is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he has served as Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice Provost for Research. He has published books on the history of the family and the colonial Virginia legislature as well as essays in social and political history. His article on English-Indian relations at Jamestown received the Lester J. Cappon Award in the William and Mary Quarterly.