The War Before the War

Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War

De: Andrew Delbanco

Narrado por: Ari Fliakos

“Excellent . . . stunning.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates

The devastating story of how fugitive slaves drove the nation to Civil War

A New York Times Notable Book Selection * Winner of the Mark Lynton History Prize* Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award * A New York Times Critics' Best Book

For decades after its founding, America was really two nations—one slave, one free. There were many reasons why this composite nation ultimately broke apart, but the fact that enslaved black people repeatedly risked their lives to flee their masters in the South in search of freedom in the North proved that the "united" states was actually a lie. Fugitive slaves exposed the contradiction between the myth that slavery was a benign institution and the reality that a nation based on the principle of human equality was in fact a prison-house in which millions of Americans had no rights at all. By awakening northerners to the true nature of slavery, and by enraging southerners who demanded the return of their human "property," fugitive slaves forced the nation to confront the truth about itself.

By 1850, with America on the verge of collapse, Congress reached what it hoped was a solution—the notorious Compromise of 1850, which required that fugitive slaves be returned to their masters. Like so many political compromises before and since, it was a deal by which white Americans tried to advance their interests at the expense of black Americans. Yet the Fugitive Slave Act, intended to preserve the Union, in fact set the nation on the path to civil war. It divided not only the American nation, but also the hearts and minds of Americans who struggled with the timeless problem of when to submit to an unjust law and when to resist.

The fugitive slave story illuminates what brought us to war with ourselves and the terrible legacies of slavery that are with us still.

Outstanding research, beautiful prose. 

Painful story because it tells a sad tale of centuries long greed, the plunder of Africa, the real cause of the American Civil War in great detail, and the legacy it leaves the present day .

Wow!

As a black American who has been confused about exactly why the civil war was fought. This book was the most concise account of what really happened that I’ve ever heard. It cleared up some myths and solidified some long held beliefs. It was so emotionally draining to hear the way my ancestors were treated. And to hear the unabashed truth of the feeling that persist in America to this day. Was absolutely mind blowing and should stand as a lesson to us all. If we don’t learn from our past mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. So much of what I see today in modern politics I thought was unique. Now I see is nothing more then the status quo that’s existed from America’s inception. There are those who felt America was theirs. And that black people are only fit to live in a permanent second class. This book spelled it out in spectacular fashion. The hatred, cruelty and injustice that white America inflicted upon my ancestors. While all the while fighting for it’s own freedom. And claiming to be a nation of laws that believes in God. Is the most jaw dropping hypocritical thing I have ever witnessed. Caste pride is a powerful drug that enables its partakers to justify anything. As long as the end result is they maintain a playing field. That mostly benefits them and that they can maintain strict control over. Unbelievably a vast portion of this country will even follow a demigod. Down the road to ruin if they think they and only they will remain in absolute power.

Learned a lot about that time when slavery existed

Notable personalities of the day were conflicted about slavery...or were quite decided. Very good read (listen). Don't think I'll think of Daniel Webster the same after learning of his duplicity in the Fugitive Slave Law.

An excellent accounting of a historical tragedy

Andrew Delbanco's novel is one of the finest accounts of the horrors of slavery and how that institution propelled America towards civil war. Told in a narrative format that is as gripping as it shocking, Ari Fliakos does an excellent job of bringing Delbanco's story to life, and his pitch-perfect tone conveys the author's implicit lamentations on the era in a way that few narrators could match.

an excellent narrative and analysis

an excellent narrative and analysis of the years preceding the Civil War and beyond