Shapers of the Great Debate on the Civil War A Biographical Dictionary

Subjects:

• History » American Civil War & Reconstruction History
• History » American History (General)

Reviews:

• Shapers of the Great Debate on the Civil War: A Biographical Dictionary is a collection of nineteen brief biographies (usually ten to twenty-five pages) detailing the lives of key figures in the Civil War era who "participated in the public discussion on almost all of the controversial issues of the day"....The book could be used in a survey course or as a desk reference.
  —Journal of Southern History May 2006

• Endorsement From Albert Castel
  Author of the Lincoln-Prize Winning Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864: Shapers of the Great Debate: A Biographical Dictionary of the Civil War Era is an unusual book. Indeed, it is more than that--it is unique. Unlike previous biographical dictionaries of the Civil War era (1846-1877), which provide short accounts of many people, it not only does that but also presents detailed descriptions of the careers of nineteen people who in various ways performed leading roles in causing, conducting, and concluding the "great debates" that ultimately took the form of a bloody conflict which kept the United States united and forever destroyed slavery. The result is a book which can serve as an informative reference about and a perceptive interpretation of its subject, thereby making it a valuable source for teachers, for students, and for those who write and read about the Civil War.
• Endorsement From Mark A. Plummer
  Professor of History Emeritus
  Illinois State University: This is no ordinary biographical dictionary of the Civil War; rather it contains well-crafted, in-depth biographies of the most important shapers of the debates and of the war itself. Most biographical dictionaries offer only a thumbnail sketch while Monroe and Tap present us with an armload of well-chosen, article-sized biographies representing the latest scholarship, and written with verve and clarity. An exceptional introductory essay probes the events of which the "shapers" acted.
• Endorsement From Robert W. Johannsen: In this well-crafted collection of biographical essays, Monroe and Tap have offered an impressive contribution to an understanding of what they term the "Great Debates" that led to the outbreak of the Civil War. Following a provocative essay on the themes of conflict, they have singled out nineteen public individuals for detailed treatment. Some are obvious--Lincoln, Douglas, Seward; some are less obvious--George Fitzhugh, Harriet Beecher Stowe (the lone woman), Greeley, Vallandigham. Each is supported by the author's research, in footnotes, and bibliography. The result is a significant new perspective on a question Americans ahve debated since the war itself. Designed for the classroom as well as for general scholaraly interest, this collection will prove indispensable.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: What were the Great Debates?
• The Bloody Career of John Brown
• Too Late to the Prize: James Buchanan
• Freedom National: The Life of Salmon Chase
• The Stubborn Resolve of Jefferson Davis
• "Let the Voice of the People Rule": Stephen A. Douglas
• From Slavery to Freedom: Frederick Douglass and the Struggle for Equality
• The Fear of Freedom: George Fitzhugh and the Pro-Slavery Argument
• The Eccentric Genius of Horace Greeley
• Andrew Johnson and the Challenge of Impeachment
• Abraham Lincoln and the House Divided
• Duty and Stoicism: Robert E. Lee
• The Young Napoleon: George Brinton McClellan
• The Triumphs and Contradictions of William H. Seward
• Alexander Stephens: Diminutive Whig Statesman
• Thaddeus Stevens: Radical of Radicals
• Literary Soldier in a Noble Cause: Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Charles Sumner and the Struggle for Equality
• Clement Laird Vallandigham: Leader of a "Respectable Minority."
• Submission or Secession: The Tragic Career of William Lowndes Yancey
• Short Biographies