
America's Great Debate
Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserved the Union
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Narrado por:
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Norman Dietz
The Mexican War introduced vast new territories into the United States, among them California and the present-day Southwest. When gold was discovered in California in the great Gold Rush of 1849, the population swelled, and settlers petitioned for admission to the Union. But the U.S. Senate was precariously balanced with 15 free states and 15 slave states. Up to this point, states had been admitted in pairs, one free and one slave, to preserve that tenuous balance in the Senate. Would California be free or slave? So began a paralyzing crisis in American government, and the longest debate in Senate history.
Fergus Bordewich tells the epic story of the Compromise of 1850 with skill and vigor, bringing to life two generations of senators who dominated the great debate. Luminaries such as John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay - who tried unsuccessfully to cobble together a compromise that would allow for California's admission and simultaneously put an end to the nation's agony over slavery - were nearing the end of their long careers. Rising stars such as Jefferson Davis, William Seward, and Stephen Douglas - who ultimately succeeded where Clay failed - would shape the country's politics as slavery gradually fractured the nation.
The Compromise saved the Union from collapse, but it did so at a great cost. The gulf between North and South over slavery widened with the strengthened Fugitive Slave Law that was part of the complex Compromise. In America's Great Debate, Fergus Bordewich takes us back to a time when compromise was imperative, when men swayed one another in Congress with the power of their ideas and their rhetoric, and when partisans on each side reached across the aisle to preserve the Union from tragedy.
©2012 Fergus M. Bordewich (P)2012 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















Reseñas de la Crítica
The biggest issue is the moral presentism that Bordewich brings to his narrative, and particulary in the epilogue. Terms like "racist" and "white supremacist" are common phrase today, yet were not in these politicians time. Even if there is validity from a modern standpoint on identifying certain behaviors as Bordewich did, it took away from his narrative instead of adding to it. Particularly egregious was his association of Jefferson Davis and other southerners who wished to see slavery expand into the western territories with 'lebensraum', a phrase connected to nazism - a time that was still 75 years in the future.
If authors could refrain from presentism and moral anachronism, they would do a better job at not appearing as having a superior mentality to a "lesser enlightened" peoples, and be taken more seriously as a historian.
Overall, the book is great - especially for a subject that most people are not aware of, yet the events were extremely significant for its time. The narration by Norman Dietz was great as well for such a subject.
Fantastic Narrative, Subpar Commentary
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Something I found interesting was that Bordewich began the book on a very personal note, explaining what drew him to the subject. He talks about reading a quote from Daniel Webster--who is often portrayed as a friend of the abolitionist movement--in which the famous politician vigorously defends the Fugitive Slave Act. The author was puzzled at the contradictory elements. Thus, he was inspired to write about the famous Compromise of 1850. Not surprisingly, Bordewich discovers--as the reader will as well--that American politics were (as always) extremely complicated.
I did enjoy the author's introductory thoughts. I found his tone to be a bit annoying. He often writes as a critic looking back and judging events from 200 years ago by the standards of today, rather than as a classical historian. This is made even worse by the narrator's exaggerated style. I got used to both the author and the narrator after a short time. Speed listeners will have no trouble with this book or the narrator.
The author does a tremendous job of taking repetitive, monotonous congressional happenings and turning it into an exciting story. There are many dramatic moments. I thought Bordewich did a very good job of getting inside the heads of the various key players. He also offers a splendid wrap up and conclusion, explaining how these events would come to impact things in the future, and what things might have been like had the compromise not occurred.
One humorous thing I will remember about this work is Bordewich falling in love with the word, "fairly." The author uses the word not as it is mostly used today, to indicate justice or to mean "pretty good," but to emphasize surprise or extreme. As in: "Mary was delighted by the present and fairly beamed."
Anyway, at one point during the book, Bordewich uses the word in that sense continuously over the course of a few chapters, and then really doesn't use it much again. It was interesting.
Excellent. Very detailed. Entertaining.
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Beautifully written and well-narrated
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The narrator did an OK job, good enough for short or medium listens, but not strong enough to foster engrossing longer listens of over an hour.
Dissappointing
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