1861 The lost peace

America dragged itself kicking and screaming into the Civil War, according to this stimulating history. Winik (1944) recaps the ratcheting tensions over slavery that led to Southern secession, from the "Bleeding Kansas" violence of the 1850s to John Brown's 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry. This is well-trod subject matter, but Winik breaks new ground in his detailed study of 11th-hour efforts to save the Union, especially the Crittenden Compromise, a set of constitutional amendments that would have permitted settlers to vote on slavery in the nation's western territories and guaranteed states' right to keep slavery forever. These proposals were rejected by a politics polarized between Republicans and secessionists, but Winik provocatively suggests that they had majority support among a public that dreaded secession and war, and would not have led to the extension of slavery in the territories, as the institution had little support among settlers. Winik presents a vivid, tragic narrative of a nation coming to pieces, where intransigence and mutual incomprehension--Lincoln, he observes, considered Southern secessionism just a negotiating ploy until almost the eve of war--made the unthinkable inevitable. Along the way, he weaves in evocative profiles of leading figures and their drift toward extremism. The result is a dramatic and insightful retelling of a fateful turn in America's saga. (May)

A look at the events leading to the Civil War, with emphasis on attempts to avoid the conflict. Winik begins his account in the 1850s, when the forces that would lead to secession were building. The political questions of the day were whether slavery should expand beyond the Southern and border states where it was already in effect and, if so, how. After a preliminary look at the condition of enslaved people, the focus in the early chapters turns to Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner and fervent abolitionist John Brown, each of whom--in very different ways--was working to end slavery. Violence had already become endemic in Kansas, where Brown's role in a massacre of slave owners made him known even before his raid on Harper's Ferry. Meanwhile, the growth of the Republican Party united anti-slavery elements in the North, though its presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, was quite willing to let slavery alone in the states where it was legal. But the South saw Lincoln's election as a threat to its "peculiar institution," and movement toward secession began as soon as the 1860 election was decided. Enter Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky, an elder statesman respected by all parties. As South Carolina declared secession, Crittenden, with many influential figures from both North and South, led a peace conference hoping to avert the coming disaster. Lincoln's cabinet members were also working to keep things together--although not all were on the same page as the new president. In the closing chapters, Winik alternates between Fort Sumter, where the first shots would be fired, and the ultimately unsuccessful peace negotiations in Washington. A fascinating look at some of the less familiar history in the days leading up to the Civil War. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.