Skip to content

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress Paperback - 1998

by William Lee Miller

In the 1830s, slavery was so deeply entrenched that it could not be discussed in Congress, which had enacted a gag rule summarily rejecting all anti-slavery petitions delivered to it. This stirring work of history chronicles John Quincy Adams's nine-year battle to overturn that rule and make slavery subject to parliamentary debate--a battle that paved the way for the Civil War.

From the publisher

William Lee Miller has taught at Yale University, Smith College, Indiana University, and the University of Virginia, where he is currently Miller Center of Public Affairs Scholar in Ethics and Institutions. He has been an editor and writer on a political magazine, a speechwriter, and a three-term alderman. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Arguing About Slavery, which won the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress.

First line

ON DECEMBER 16, 1835, an otherwise undistinguished thirty-eight-year-old congressman named John Fairfield, from York County, Maine, rose upon his legs in the United States House of Representatives to present the first of session's petition for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.

From the jacket flap

In the 1830s slavery was so deeply entrenched that it could not even be discussed in Congress, which had enacted a "gag rule" to ensure that anti-slavery petitions would be summarily rejected. This stirring book chronicles the parliamentary battle to bring "the peculiar institution" into the national debate, a battle that some historians have called "the Pearl Harbor of the slavery controversy." The campaign to make slavery officially and respectably debatable was waged by John Quincy Adams who spent nine years defying gags, accusations of treason, and assassination threats. In the end he made his case through a combination of cunning and sheer endurance. Telling this story with a brilliant command of detail, Arguing About Slavery endows history with majestic sweep, heroism, and moral weight.


"Dramatic, immediate, intensely readable, fascinating and often moving."--New York Times Book Review

Details

  • Title Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
  • Author William Lee Miller
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: Repri
  • Pages 592
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Vintage, New York
  • Date January 12, 1998
  • ISBN 9780679768449 / 0679768440
  • Weight 1.05 lbs (0.48 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.4 in (20.07 x 13.21 x 3.56 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
  • Library of Congress subjects Adams, John Quincy, United States - Politics and government -
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 95035075
  • Dewey Decimal Code 973.5

About the author

William Lee Miller has taught at Yale University, Smith College, Indiana University, and the University of Virginia, where he is currently Miller Center of Public Affairs Scholar in Ethics and Institutions. He has been an editor and writer on a political magazine, a speechwriter, and a three-term alderman. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Arguing About Slavery, which won the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress.

More Copies for Sale

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by Miller, William Lee Lee

  • Used
  • Acceptable
Condition
Used - Acceptable
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€9.36
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Acceptable. Acceptable. Ship within 24hrs. Satisfaction 100% guaranteed. APO/FPO addresses supported
Item Price
€9.36
FREE shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by Miller, William Lee

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
774
Seller
Fairfax Station, Virginia, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€11.83
€3.78 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Vintage, 1998-01-12. Paperback. Like New.
Item Price
€11.83
€3.78 shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by Miller, William Lee

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
774
Seller
Fairfax Station, Virginia, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€13.21
€3.78 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Vintage, 1998-01-12. Paperback. New.
Item Price
€13.21
€3.78 shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

Arguing about Slavery John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by William Lee Miller

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Dowagiac, Michigan, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€14.21
€3.52 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade.
Item Price
€14.21
€3.52 shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by William Lee Miller

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used:Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€19.81
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Vintage, 1998-01-12. Paperback. Used:Good.
Item Price
€19.81
FREE shipping to USA
Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by William Lee Miller

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€33.61
€11.99 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Vintage Books, 1998. Paperback. New. 592 pages. 8.50x5.25x1.25 inches.
Item Price
€33.61
€11.99 shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by Miller, William Lee Lee

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€26.75
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
New. .
Item Price
€26.75
FREE shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by Miller, William Lee Lee

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Newport Coast, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€31.52
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
Item Price
€31.52
FREE shipping to USA
Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Arguing about Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress

by Miller, William Lee

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679768449 / 0679768440
Quantity Available
1
Seller
San Diego, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
€79.01
€5.16 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Vintage, 1998-01-12. Paperback. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
Item Price
€79.01
€5.16 shipping to USA