Summary Of Team Of Rivals By Doris Kearns Goodwin

American biographer, historian, and once a professor at Harvard University, Doris Kearns Goodwin, in chapter five of her book “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”, she introduces the reader to the issues of slavery that arose in the 1850’s and analyzes the different viewpoints and tactics that important politicians carried out during their debates. Goodwin does this by not only presenting the different opinions of numerous well respected people who advocated for either the continuation or the abolition of slavery during the mid nineteenth century, but also by using specific accounts of the rhetors debates and examining their strategies. For example, Goodwin introduces the reader to the ideas of those who advocated for

Because slavery had existed in at a time in which each and every colony was not yet developed, as time progressed it was inevitable for slavery to not play a fundamental role in the development of the United States, especially the South. After all, the South had completely relied on the labor of African-American slaves to develop economically. However, after the large growth of industrialization, immigrants, and technology that the North underwent, the South’s impact on the nation was decreasing. Also, many Southern slaveowners viewed abolitionist views as a threat not only to their Southern culture, but also to their “constitutional right” to own slaves and their

A reason why there was an increase in abolitionist was because the Antebellum Reform Movements influenced the morale of many Americans, opening the eyes of numerous and allowing them to see the inhumane ways of slavery. For that reason, when Kansas and Nebraska were admitted as new states, many believed that the union could no longer afford slavery to spread. As if that wasn’t enough, because Kansas and Nebraska both laid above the 36°30’ parallel, they would have to be admitted as free states (Missouri Compromise). For that reason, it was important to many Americans that the “peculiar institutions” of the South, be contained and not spread.

However, just like the land that was acquired as a result of the Mexican American War, there was a third option. This option was to allow the state legislatures of both Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether their state would be a free state or a slave state. One of the greatest politicians who advocated for this idea was Stephen Douglas, who had previously saved the Union by the role that he played in the Compromise of 1850. Nevertheless, this idea was probably the most radical simply because if passed, it would mean that it would replace the Missouri Compromise, allowing slavery to spread anywhere in the