The Abolition Crusade and Its Consequences

The author sets out to tell a connected story of events that happened in his lifetime, particularly focusing on the relations between slaveholders and non-slaveholders in the South. Drawing on both his own memories and contemporaneous written evidence, he seeks to trace the great sectional movement of 1831 and its profound effects on American history. Divided into four historic periods, the book devotes most of its pages to the first period, from 1831 to 1860, which saw the anti-slavery crusade. The following three periods—secession and four years of war, reconstruction under the Lincoln-Johnson plan, and restoration of self-government in the South—are more briefly sketched. Overall, the book offers valuable lessons for anyone interested in American history and its ongoing effects on American society.