The Slaveholding Republic

Don E. Fehrenbacher's final book, ably completed and edited by his former student Ward M. McAfee, examines the U.S. government's relations with slavery from the founding of the republic through the Civil War ... because of its clear thesis, broad view, and lively narration, The Slaveholding Republic will surely make an influential contribution to the historiography of American politics and slavery. And, like all good books, it raises important questions that deserve further examination. American Nineteenth Century History The Slaveholding Republic not only advances our knowledge of the critical relationships of slavery to the American government, placing it in perspective and explaining its meaning, but it also helps frame contemporary debates over the perennial question about the relative power of the nation and the locality. One could hardly ask for more. Ira Berlin, The Washington Post A major historian addresses a major theme in the late Don Fehrenbacher's The Slaveholding Republic. Rigorously based on the original sources, this book accurately and soberly relates the shameful story of how the federal government treated human beings as property. Daniel Walker Howe, Rhodes Professor of American History, Oxford University Engagingly written, thoughtfully conceived, and filled with flashes of insight. Here is a compelling contribution to the ongoing debate about the nation's ends and means, its better angels, and its fundamental law. Phillip Shaw Paludan, author of "A People's Contest": The Union and the Civil War