Synopses & Reviews
Surrounded by a ring of fire, the scorpion stings itself to death. The image, widespread among antislavery leaders before the Civil War, captures their long-standing strategy for peaceful abolition: they would surround the slave states with a cordon of freedom. They planned to use federal power wherever they could to establish freedom: the western territories, the District of Columbia, the high seas. By constricting slavery they would induce a crisis: slaves would escape in ever-greater numbers, the southern economy would falter, and finally the southern states would abolish the institution themselves. For their part the southern states fully understood this antislavery strategy. They cited it repeatedly as they adopted secession ordinances in response to Lincoln's election.
Review
"Offers the best explication of the long history by which Americans embraced the legitimacy of military emancipation, and it offers great insight into the debate over which took precedence: the natural right to property or the natural right to freedom." Ira Berlin
Review
"If any reader still questions whether the Civil War was about slavery, this book overcomes all doubts." Washington Post
Review
"Incisive, imaginative, surprising, completely original--everything that one would expect from the most eminent historian of emancipation." James McPherson
Review
"In clear prose and with searing insight, James Oakes recovers the moral urgency and strategic vision behind the Republican drive to undermine the slave system. A work of great depth and empathy." Eric J. Sundquist
Review
"In four swift, clear strokes, James Oakes has rewritten the history of emancipation in the United States." Alan Taylor
Synopsis
"Beautifully argued . . . succeeds in telling us new things about a heavily explored topic."--Mark M. Smith, Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
A Notable Work of Nonfiction for 2014.
About the Author
James Oakes is the author of several acclaimed books on slavery and the Civil War. His most recent book, Freedom National, won the Lincoln Prize and was a long-list selection for the National Book Award. He lives in New York City.