Up until the last paragraph of this book, I believed its title to be incorrect - but the conclusion convinced me!

I freely admit that I went into this book biased. I have long been passionate about the abolitionist movement. Even though it is unquestionably horrible that so many died in the Civil War, American chattel slavery needed to be eradicated, and I don’t believe politicians should have just let enslaved people suffer for another hundred years because “slavery would have ended eventually.”

So these speeches did not, in one sense, save the Union; the Confederate states seceded and the Civil War happened in part because of tensions fanned by the Fugitive Slave Act that followed these speeches. However… What if the Compromise of 1850 didn’t happen, and the South seceded that year? The president at the time may have just let them go, with the “peculiar institution” still in existence - whereas Lincoln did not! I had always thought of the Compromise of 1850 as worsening the plight of enslaved people, which is still true, but the conclusion of this book made me realize that without the Compromise, American chattel slavery might have lasted a lot longer. Of course, we can never know that for certain, but it was an excellent point!

This book is informative about that important and difficult time in American history as seen through speeches by three of the greatest orators of the era. This book dissects speeches by Clay, Calhoun, and Webster in early 1850. The format has Hoffer interspersing explanation and analysis throughout the body of each speech, pausing every few paragraphs or so. I was expecting more analysis of some rhetorical strategies (Hoffer did this in places), but a lot of it was just providing specific historical context, which I appreciated. It is nice to have it all in one place with the speakers’ references explained. I also appreciate that Hoffer does not treat the speakers as perfect; he is right to call out their errors and their slaveholding. (There was one brief error in the book, at least to my understanding: Hoffer claims “The Constitution did not mention slavery”, but it did refer to slavery in Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3: “No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.”)

Overall, this is an informative read and I recommend it to history buffs who enjoy close readings of important speeches.

Thank you to NetGalley and NYU Press for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions.