Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1st Edition

by Harry V. Jaffa (Author)

82 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0226391137

ISBN-10: 0226391132

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Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 50th Anniversary Edition
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Crisis of the House Divided is the standard historiography of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Harry Jaffa provides the definitive analysis of the political principles that guided Lincoln from his re-entry into politics in 1854 through his Senate campaign against Douglas in 1858.

"Crisis of the House Divided has shaped the thought of a generation of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War scholars."—Mark E. Needly, Jr., Civil War History

"An important book about one of the great episodes in the history of the sectional controversy. It breaks new ground and opens a new view of Lincoln's significance as a political thinker."—T. Harry Williams, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences

"A searching and provocative analysis of the issues confronted and the ideas expounded in the great debates. . . . A book which displays such learning and insight that it cannot fail to excite the admiration even of scholars who disagree with its major arguments and conclusions."—D. E. Fehrenbacher, American Historical Review

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About the Author

Harry V. Jaffa (1918-2015) was an influential historian and political philosopher. At the time of his death he was an emeritus professor at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University and a distinguished fellow of the Claremont Institute. His ideas helped shape modern American conservatism; he was also a speechwriter for 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University Of Chicago Press; 1st edition (March 15, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 460 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226391132
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226391137
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.06 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.75 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,420,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,084 in Historiography (Books)
- #5,135 in European History (Books)
- #5,375 in United States History (Books)

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Robert H. Baldwin, Jr.

Great book, but do a brief history review before reading

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2017

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I thought I knew American history pretty well, but Jaffa disabused me of that idea. This is difficult but very rewarding book and, though it was written many years ago, presents interesting echos from the pre-Civil War politics of our country that remind me of what we are going through now. Lincoln must be spinning in his grave! A recommendation: before you start reading, do a Wikipedia review of the Missouri Compromise and developments following it. Jaffa assumes you know all about that and, if you don't, his book is harder to follow. But, a brief review of that part of our history will make this magisterial analysis of American history easier to access and digest.

33 people found this helpful

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Gary C. Marfin

As Polarized As We've Ever Been

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2020

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Our contemporary political polarization, absorbing as it may be, pales in comparison to the polarization experienced during the Civil War era. In this text, the late Professor Harry Jaffa provides an in-depth, philosophical analysis of the issues at stake during that long tragic era.

It is the Declaration’s proposition that “all men are created equal,” with all its nuances, that informed Lincoln’s position throughout the debates about slavery.
In contrast, Stephen Douglas, Lincoln’s great antagonist, raised the question of whether Jefferson and the other signatories really believed the proposition. After all, argued Douglas, the Founders, at least for a time, kept their slaves. For the most part, Douglas was content to let the majority of white men decide the question of slavery in the territories, and nothing was as important, during that era, as the question of whether the emerging territories might sanction slavery. Although no one would ever describe Douglas as egalitarian, he nonetheless appeared to believe that, over time, holding slaves would ultimately, like Marx’s state, wither away.

Douglass’ emphasis on majority rule may have honored the Declaration’s commitment to consent of the governed, but, between them, only Lincoln saw the need to honor the Declaration’s principle of equality as well. For Lincoln, approval of slavery in the territories was morally destructive of the republican form of government established by the framers. Jaffa is careful, however, to emphasize that Lincoln, in pursuit of his ideals, was ever mindful of the constraints of popular politics, for Lincoln realized that the task of statesmanship was “to know what is good or right, to know how much of that goal is attainable, and to act to secure that much good but not to abandon the attainable good [by] grasping for more.”

On a less philosophical, but no less interesting plane, Jaffa decimates the idea, held by many at the time and even modern historians since, that slavery’s demise was only a matter of time. Those who espoused this view, in effect, believed that black slaves were suited only for work in cotton fields, Jaffa provides data showing that, in fact, blacks were capable of factory work, clerical work, and indeed any job across the occupational spectrum.

It’s true, the late Professor Jaffa does assume a knowledge of the period that most students and lay readers, this one included, lack. Even with the inclusion of helpful appendices, the book can be a formidable undertaking. Nevertheless, do not let that deter you. What Jaffa does is to situate the Declaration of Independence in Lincoln’s thought as a founding document, one on par with the U.S. Constitution, and one central to the long debate about slavery.

18 people found this helpful

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Chris Maska

The reason why Juneteenth should be celebrated

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2021

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When Congress was recently debating whether to make Juneteenth, the day Texas slaves learned they were free in 1865, a national holiday some said Juneteenth was the Black Independence Day. This seemed to set up a conflict between the Fourth of July and Juneteenth: the Fourth being the white Independence Day and Juneteenth being the black Independence Day. There should be no conflict. As Harry Jaffa demonstrates in Crisis of the House Divided, the promise of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal was not fulfilled until slavery was ended. Both the promise and its fulfillment deserve celebration by all Americans.

The Lincoln Douglas Debates are mostly concerned with the issue of whether slavery should be allowed in territories. Douglas argued to let the territories decide and he did not care how they decided. Lincoln relying on the the Declaration of Independence argued that slavery was evil. That if by democratic procedures a people allowed slavery that they have undercut the very basis of democracy. The basis of democracy is that all men are created equal. If slavery is allowed for blacks, one must allow slavery for everyone. The arguments in favor of slavery could be used equally well against any group. The claim that blacks can be enslaved because they are not sufficiently intelligent, a completely dubious claim, is based on the premise that the wisest person could enslave everyone else. Slavery is fundamentally incompatible with democratic government. It matters greatly whether slavery is allowed to expand.

While the above is the central argument of the book, there is much more to the book. The book brings together history, rhetoric, and philosophy to examine perhaps the greatest debate in American history.

8 people found this helpful

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Burr

Not A Conventional History

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013

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I purchased this book as the result of a review in a conservative magazine to which I subscribe. Even at the point of ordering, I thought I was going to read a blow-by-blow account of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, a part of the 1858 campaign for Senator from the State of Illinois. It is much different from that conception and any allied perceptions. It is, rather, a deeply considered analysis of the arguments presented by each man. The analyses of each man's arguments spans the whole of each man's public life, which in each case, began long before 1858. The author is precise in his use of the King's English to the point where, even though I think I possess a larger than average vocabulary, I kept my college dictionary nearby when I worked on this book. The read is worth the effort. You will have a much enhanced vision of the competing forces which brought the nation to the Civil War. Surprisingly, the scope of the analyses take you back to the founding fathers. If you like to give your brain a workout, buy it and read it.

25 people found this helpful

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J. W. Henry Watson

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2017

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An incredible work of scholarship.

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Dave F.

A classic as timely today as when Jaffa wrote it in 1959

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2020

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If the "House Divided" occasioned the debates, the meaning of the Declaration's proposition that "all men are created equal" was their substantive heart. Jaffa's explanation of Lincoln's arguments bears as much on today's contentions over "equality" and "social justice" as it does on the import of Southern argument for the expansion of slavery into the territories.

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Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1st Edition

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