Conflict and Compromise The Political Economy of Slavery, Emancipation and the American Civil War

Ransom examines the economic and political factors that led to the attempt by Southerners to dissolve the Union in 1860.

No series of events has had a more dramatic impact on the course of American history than the Civil War and the emancipation of four million black slaves. In this book Professor Roger Ransom examines the economic and political factors that led to the attempt by Southerners to dissolve the Union in 1860, and the equally determined effort of Northerners to preserve it. Drawing on recent research in economic, political, and social history, Ransom argues that the system of capitalist slavery in the South not only 'caused' the Civil War by producing tensions that could not be resolved by compromise; it also played a crucial role in the outcome of that War by crippling the southern war effort at the same time that emancipation became a unifying issue for the North.

List of tables and illustrations; Preface; 1. Historical puzzles; 2. Slavery and freedom; 3. The economics of slavery; 4. The politics of slavery; 5. The politics of compromise; 6. Slavery and the war; 7. The impact of emancipation; 8. After the war; Bibliography; Index.

No series of events has had a more dramatic impact on the course of American history than the Civil War and the emancipation of four million black slaves. In this book Professor Roger Ransom examines the economic and political factors that led to the attempt by Southerners to dissolve the Union in 1860.