1831

Download or read book 1831 written by Louis P. Masur and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2002-02-09 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone knew that the great eclipse of 1831 was coming--and most Americans feared it. The United States was no longer a young, uncomplicated republic but, rather, conflicted and dynamic, inching toward cataclysm. Louis P. Masur organizes his remarkable book around the principal themes underlying the dangerous developments that marked this tumultuous year: continuing conflict over slavery in some states and uncertainty about its extension into new ones; the unresolved tension between states' rights and national priorities; competing passions about religion and politics; and the often alarming effects of new machinery on Americans' relationship to the land. In this important and challenging interpretation of antebellum America, Masur argues that disparate events relating to these issues decisively affected the very nature of the American character. -- Back cover.