The Rivals: William Gwin, David Broderick, and the Birth of California
Unlike most political histories of the antebellum period, this work does not focus on events in the eastern United States. Instead, it examines the slave-free soil struggle in California through the eyes of two of the young state's prominent public figures and rivals, who each went west to seek his political and financial fortunes. William Gwin was an aristocratic Mississippi planter with a dubious past, and David Broderick was a veteran of the bareknuckle politics of New York City. Each sought and obtained a seat in the U.S. Senate, but their conflicting views spilled over into personal animosity that led to Broderick's death in an illegal duel and Gwin's subsequent dishonor. Quinn (Broken Shore, Redwood Pr., 1987) presents more than a well-crafted tale of two rivals; he works in the dual contexts of a state in the making and a nation breaking apart as the Civil War looms closer. A balanced work for history collections.Daniel Liestman, Seattle Pacific Univ. Lib.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.