On the Brink of Civil War: The Compromise of 1850 and How It Changed the Course of American History

(Paperback)

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Years before the Civil War began, another dark conflict threatened to shatter the Union. It was December 1849. The U.S.-Mexican War had just ended, doubling the size of the country. A grave problem emerged: whether slavery should be admitted into the new territories that were to be carved out of the vast new domain resulting from the war. On the Brink of Civil War tells the dramatic story of what happened when a handful of senators-towering figures in nineteenth-century American history-tried to hammer out a compromise to save the Union. Waugh's richly detailed, swiftly moving narrative reads like a novel, yet he brings perspective and interpretation to the events that will help students understand the meaning of this complex, alarming period in America's past. The Compromise of 1850 makes history come alive and will enlighten and entertain students in courses on the Civil War era, U.S. political history, and survey courses on U.S. history.

Reviews

John C. Waugh has scored again. On the Brink of Civil War is a tour de force and must reading if we are to comprehend why in 1850 the nation's political leadership succeeded only to fail when next challenged. -- Edwin C. Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service
After the Mexican War, the United States came close to civil war. The process through which compromise prevailed is dramatically recounted by John C. Waugh, an experienced twentieth-century journalist now turning his attention and talents to past crises. Combining skillful reporting, careful research, and an instinct for the colorful, Waugh analyzes the statesmanship the nation would lack a decade later. -- John Y. Simon, professor of history, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Jack Waugh has written the best book on the Compromise of 1850. Waugh, in a graceful, journalistic way, examines the views of each major figure and some minor figures. The great statesmen of the nation speak for the causes of the sections, and, with no compromise being popular, they nevertheless manage to prolong the peace for a decade. It is a marvelously written account; you'll root for the one side and then the othera great read. -- Grady McWhiney, Texas Christian University
Waugh has produced a splendid and quite readable volume. * History Teacher *
A lucid, comprehensive, and wonderfully readable account of the crisis that could have resulted in the dissolution of the Union in 1850. -- Keith Poulter, Publisher, North & South magazine

Author Bio

John C. Waugh was a staff correspondant and bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor. He is author of six books on the Civil War era, and served on the senior staffs of two national politicians, Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.