1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910957601503321

Autore

Ratner Lorman

Titolo

Fanatics and fire-eaters : newspapers and the coming of the Civil War / / Lorman A. Ratner and Dwight L. Teeter, Jr

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Urbana, : University of Illinois Press, 2003

ISBN

9786613896001

9780252092213

025209221X

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiii, 138 p.)

Collana

The history of communication

Altri autori (Persone)

TeeterDwight L., Jr.,  <1935-2015.>

Disciplina

973.7/11

Soggetti

Journalism - Political aspects - United States - History - 19th century

Press and politics - United States - History - 19th century

American newspapers - History - 19th century

United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Causes

United States Politics and government 1849-1861

United States Social conditions To 1865

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The emergence of a democratic press -- Impeding civilization: the Brooks-Sumner incident -- The Dred Scott decision and a society of laws -- Kansas and the Lecompton constitution: does the majority rule? -- John Brown's raid: violence in a republican society -- Lincoln's election: could a republican lead the republic? -- Firing on Fort Sumter: a republic at war with itself -- Conclusion: the shattered republic.

Sommario/riassunto

In the troubled years leading up to the Civil War, newspapers in the North and South presented the arguments for and against slavery, debated the right to secede, and in general denounced opposing viewpoints with imagination and vigor. At the same time, new technologies like railroads and the telegraph lent the debates an immediacy that both enflamed emotions and brought the slavery issue into every home.   Lorman A. Ratner and Dwight L. Teeter Jr. look at the power of America's fast-growing media to influence perception and the course of events prior to the Civil War. Drawing on newspaper accounts from across the United States, the authors look at how the media



covered-and the public reacted to-major events like the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, and the election of 1860. They find not only North-South disputes about the institution of slavery but differing visions of the republic itself-and which region was the true heir to the legacy of the American Revolution.