The Problem of Slavery in American Politics.

Abundant scholarship exists on slavery and politics in the antebellum United States, but the three works reviewed break new ground by revisiting the basic categories and concepts used to analyze political history. Slavery intersected with a variety of other interests, values, and priorities, from national unity to racial hierarchy. By addressing how white Americans made sense of their often conflicting or contradictory feelings about slavery in the United States, the authors of these three works creatively integrate cultural and intellectual history into their political analyses, enhancing our understanding of the political polarization that led to disunion. Together, they highlight neglected aspects of the multifaceted conflict over American slavery and model several innovative approaches to political history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]