Busy in the cause : Iowa, the free-state struggle in the west, and the prelude to the Civil War / Lowell J. Soike.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Soike, Lowell J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Antislavery movements--Iowa--History--19th century.

Antislavery movements.

Abolitionists--Iowa--History--19th century.

Abolitionists.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Causes.

United States.

Iowa--Politics and government--19th century.

Iowa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (501 p.)

Place of Publication:

Lincoln, Nebraska : Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Despite the immense body of literature about the American Civil War and its causes, the nation's western involvement in the approaching conflict often gets short shrift. Slavery was the catalyst for fiery rhetoric on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line and conflicts on the western edges of the nation. Driven by questions regarding the place of slavery in westward expansion and by the increasing influence of evangelical Protestant faiths that viewed the institution as inherently sinful, political debates about slavery took on a radicalized, uncompromising fervor in states and territories west of the Mississippi River. Busy in the Cause explores the role of the Midwest in shaping national politics concerning slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. In 1856 Iowa aided parties of abolitionists desperate to reach Kansas Territory to vote against the expansion of slavery, and evangelical Iowans assisted runaway slaves through Underground Railroad routes in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Lowell J. Soike's narrative illuminates Iowa's role in the stirring western events that formed the prelude to the Civil War. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; List of Illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Uncertainty Rising; 2. The Morning Star; 3. Prairie, Dust, and Wind; 4. "Do Come and Help Us. Come On through Iowa"; 5. Ho! For Kansas; 6. Scramble to Freedom; 7. Raising the Stakes; 8. Heaven Sent; 9. North and Back: Captors and Liberators; Epilogue; Appendix; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index; About the Author

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780803273856

0803273851

9780803273849

0803273843

OCLC:

877868613