1831: Year of Eclipse
Masur (history, CUNY) has done a superb job of creating a richly textured account of a portentous year in American history: 1831 marked the year that the Southern oligarchy quit discussing the possible abolition of slavery and William Lloyd Garrison began his strident demand for abolition of the peculiar institution. The Nullification Crisis and the Indian Removal Act further exacerbated sectional differences. North-South fissures of the body politic also found expression in the battles between the National Republicans and the Democrats. Yet Union sentiment remained strong, and all Americans seemed to share a common drive toward material prosperity. Sadly, sectionalism eventually eclipsed national commonalties and thus fostered the fraternal bloodbath that erupted 30 years later. It is the dichotomy between consensus and conflict that Masur captures through the skillful use of memoirs, letters, diaries, newspapers, and first-person accounts. This is a work of traditional history: a good story grounded in primary sources. Recommended for public and academic libraries.DJim Doyle, Sara Hightower Regional Lib., Rome, GACopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.