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Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 50th Anniversary Edition Paperback – April 15, 2009

by Harry V. Jaffa (Author)

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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 reentry into politics in 1854 through his Senate campaign against Douglas in 1858. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication, Jaffa has provided a new introduction.

"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

Print length

472 pages
Language

English
Publisher

University of Chicago Press
Publication date

April 15, 2009
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0226391183
ISBN-13

978-0226391182
See all details

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Four hundred pages of close textual analysis, biography and political philosophy, the book transformed the scholarly understanding of Lincoln, placing the prairie lawyer on a level with Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, and the other founders.”

― Forbes Published On: 2009-07-17

"A book that will never die--a genuine landmark in American thought. It's the greatest Lincoln book ever. No foolin'." -- Andrew Ferguson

"One of the most influential works of American history and political philosophy ever published." ― National Review

About the Author

Harry Jaffa is Henry Salvatori Research Professor of Political Philosophy Emeritus at Claremont McKenna College.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Enlarged edition (April 15, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 472 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226391183
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226391182
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #767,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #597 in Rhetoric (Books)
- #2,837 in History & Theory of Politics
- #12,495 in U.S. State & Local History

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Paul V.

Tour de Force on Lincoln

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2024

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Jaffa, one of the leading conservative political philosophers of the 20th century, and founder of the Claremont Institute, dives deep into the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, comparing and contrasting the two's approaches to solving the slavery problem. It's not so much an account of the debates themselves as an exploration of competing philosophies. Douglas advocated for popular sovereignty (i.e. each territory or state could decide whether to allow slavery) whereas Lincoln was adamantly opposed to any expansion of slavery based on the fundamental principal in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. Lincoln lost the 1858 Illinois Senate race to Douglas but beat him in the 1860 presidential race, and the rest is history.

Have your favorite history primer close at hand when you read this book, because Jaffa assumes the reader has a fairly in-depth knowledge of antebellum history, from the Missouri Compromise of 1820 through the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the Dred Scott decision of 1857. But stick with it because by the end of the book you will appreciate what a monumental historical figure Lincoln was, and you will understand the depth and the source of his convictions that would fundamentally change the nation.

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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.

24 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.

11 people found this helpful

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Jeffrey Jarmuth

Best Antebellum Slavery Disquisition

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023

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The depth, clarity and vision of this book is breathtaking.

One person found this helpful

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