Surrounded by a ring of fire, the scorpion stings itself to death. The image, widespread among antislavery leaders before the Civil War, captures their long-standing strategy for peaceful abolition: they would surround the slave states with a cordon of freedom. They planned to use federal power wherever they could to establish freedom: the western territories, the District of Columbia, the high seas. By constricting slavery they would induce a crisis: slaves would escape in ever-greater numbers, the southern economy would falter, and finally the southern states would abolish the institution themselves. For their part the southern states fully understood this antislavery strategy. They cited it repeatedly as they adopted secession ordinances in response to Lincoln's election.

The scorpion's sting is the centerpiece of this fresh, incisive exploration of slavery and the Civil War: Was there a peaceful route to abolition? Was Lincoln late to emancipation? What role did race play in the politics of slavery? With stunning insight James Oakes moves us ever closer to a new understanding of the most momentous events in our history.

About the Author
James Oakes is one of our foremost Civil War historians and a two-time winner of the Lincoln Prize for his works on the politics of abolition. He teaches at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Reviews
"With the direct, forthright style that marks his writings, Oakes makes clear that the secessionists were right when they claimed that the rise of the Republican party foretokened the death of slavery if they remained in the Union...If any reader still questions whether the Civil War was about slavery, this book overcomes all doubts." -- James McPherson "Incisive, imaginative, surprising, completely original-everything that one would expect from the most eminent historian of emancipation." -- Eric J. Sundquist "In clear prose and with searing insight, James Oakes recovers the moral urgency and strategic vision behind the Republican drive to undermine the slave system. A work of great depth and empathy." -- Alan Taylor "A fitting follow-up to Oakes's game-changing study, Freedom National, shedding further light on how the antislavery movement laid the groundwork for emancipation." -- Douglas L. Wilson "In four swift, clear strokes, James Oakes has rewritten the history of emancipation in the United States." -- Allen C. Guelzo "James Oakes has brilliantly reframed our understanding of the Civil War. It is no surprise that Oakes is the first scholar to recover the meaning of the scorpion's sting; his close readings of political documents, delivered in his lucid, elegant style, are virtually unrivaled." -- John Stauffer "An in-depth look at political attitudes toward slavery at the brink of the Civil War."



Book Information
ISBN 9780393239935
Author James Oakes
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 364g
Dimensions(mm) 218mm * 152mm * 20mm