The fact of national unity seems so self-evident to today's citizens and the concept of secession so foreign that an instructor who wishes to have students gain an appreciation of the anger, the sense of betrayal, the frustration that split the nation has to take extraordinary steps to do so. Chapter 14 of the text conveys well the drama of the decade of the 1850s. While it is usually unnecessary and undesirable to parallel in lecture what is clear in the text, it is useful here to make an exception. After a reiteration of the ethos of the two sections, what for each constituted the good society and desirable social and economic policy, a dramatic recounting of the problems, issues, and mistakes that followed one upon another will help make clear how moderation was driven away and the nation prepared for war. Highly readable, judicious, and carefully written are four volumes by Allan Nevins. The first two, Ordeal of the Union (1947), take the story to 1857. The latter two, The Emergence of Lincoln (1950), to the war itself. One of the best one-volume treatments is David M. Potter, The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861 (1976). Bruce Levine, Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War (1992), provides a general account holding that slavery shaped the politics that produced civil war. See also Stephen B. Oates, The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm, 1820-1861 (1998).

The Civil War ended an era in which the nation was enriched by the services of three giants who never got to be president, although men of lesser stature did. The careers of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun all deserve a lecture. Pressure of time will probably prevent more than one from being selected, but outside readings by students can also be encouraged. The lecture might focus on three main points. How did the subject's thinking change in the course of his career? How well did the subject reflect the thinking of his section and of the nation? Why was he never elected president? A recent useful biography of Daniel Webster is Maurice G. Baxter, One and Inseparable: Daniel Webster and the Union (1984). Professor Baxter has also written the fine Henry Clay and the American System (1995). See also Merrill D. Peterson, The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay and Calhoun (1987); Clement Eaton, Henry Clay and the Art of American Politics (1962); Margaret L. Coit, John C. Calhoun: An American Portrait (1951); and Irving H. Bartlett, John C. Calhoun: A Biography (1993).

The Dred Scott case is one of enormous complexity. It is an excellent vehicle for instruction because it reveals so much of the thinking of the 1850s and because it is so useful for explaining the workings of the Supreme Court as an American political institution. Don E. Fehrenbacher, The Dred Scott Case (1978), offers a full account. A paperback abridgement, Slavery, Law, and Politics: The Dred Scott Case in Historical Perspective, was published in 1981. Excerpts from the opinions, from editorial comments, and from historians' writings may be found in Stanley I. Kutler, editor, The Dred Scott Decision: Law or Politics? (1967).

The history of the 1850s illustrates an aspect of Manifest Destiny poorly remembered in North America but well remembered by Latin Americans: filibusters. Chapter 13 dealt with U.S.-Mexico relations during this period. The Ostend Manifesto and incidents of filibustering deserve a closer look, especially in view of the successes and failures of United States policy in the Caribbean and Central America in more recent times. See especially Charles H. Brown, Agents of Manifest Destiny: The Lives and Times of the Filibusters (1978), and Rudy Wurlitzer, Walker: The True Story of the First American Invasion of Nicaragua (1988).

What is the truth about John Brown? Was he a romantic hero? A madman? He easily captures the imagination: the fearsome painting by John Steuart Curry and the poems and songs certainly make that clear. Stephen B. Oates, To Purge the Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown (1970), provides a fully developed treatment. Other viewpoints are offered, often unrestrainedly, in comprehensive histories by Allan Nevins, David Potter, and others, as well as in older biographies like that of W. E. B. Du Bois, John Brown (1909). Other reactions can be found in Paul Finkelman, editor, His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid (1994).