This book traces the history of slavery in the United States from 1820 until the beginning of the Civil War era. In this book by Professor Louis Filler, he writes about Albert B. Hart 's Slavery and Abolition, 1831-1841, and Theodore C. Smith 's Parties and Slavery, 1850-1859. However, major episodes in American history like the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision are not emphasized on, nor are they written in detail. Despite the fact that the book is supposed to be about slavery, it was surprising that those topics and major contributions that happened in those trying times were not included.
Although I have not read a lot books on slavery, I can say this book certainly different and explicitly
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In this book, it is the professors opinion that the abolitionist themselves were guilty of racial and religious prejudice, an opinion which I do not share. A large portion of antislavery energy was directed toward removing not only slavery but African Americans from the United States. The author of this book did not quite expatiate on the abolitionist and the crusaders he mentioned in the book; which is understandable seeing that the book is not really about the crusaders themselves, but the accomplishment and contributions they made towards the abolition of slavery. The implication of in this book is that in general the abolitionists were sincere, motivated and decent. Garrison 's hatred of slavery, it is suggested by the author, should not be equated with hatred of slaveholders. William Lloyd Garrison, not Theodore Dwight Weld, is seen as the pre-eminent figure among the reformers. His special role as "an antislavery symbol" is emphasized. The Tappan’s, William Jay, James G. Birney, John Quincy Adams, Joshua R. Giddings, and dozens of others are discussed in their historical context. The role of African Americans like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman is not overlooked. The treatment of John Brown is moderate, though not exactly sympathetic. Lincoln 's conservatism on the slavery question is also