{"product_id":"busy-in-the-cause-iowa-the-free-state-struggle-in-the-west-and-the-prelude-to-the-civil-war-paperback","title":"Busy in the Cause: Iowa, the Free-State Struggle in the West, and the Prelude to the Civil War - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLowell J. Soike\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite the immense body of literature about the American Civil War and its causes, the nation's western involvement in the approaching conflict often gets short shrift. Slavery was the catalyst for fiery rhetoric on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line and fiery conflicts on the western edges of the nation. Driven by questions regarding the place of slavery in westward expansion and by the increasing influence of evangelical Protestant faiths that viewed the institution as inherently sinful, political debates about slavery took on a radicalized, uncompromising fervor in states and territories west of the Mississippi River.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBusy in the Cause\u003c\/i\u003e explores the role of the Midwest in shaping national politics concerning slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. In 1856 Iowa aided parties of abolitionists desperate to reach Kansas Territory to vote against the expansion of slavery, and evangelical Iowans assisted runaway slaves through Underground Railroad routes in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Lowell J. Soike's detailed and entertaining narrative illuminates Iowa's role in the stirring western events that formed the prelude to the Civil War.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eLowell J. Soike is retired from the State Historical Society of Iowa, where he served as a historian for thirty-six years. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eWithout Right Angles: The Round Barns of Iowa and Norwegian-Americans and the Politics of Dissent, 1880-1924\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 306\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.76 x 9.06 x 6.02 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 01, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51779983507744,"sku":"9780803271890","price":48.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/0b745e9c5749e68d207a4baaee033b78.webp?v=1780521003","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/busy-in-the-cause-iowa-the-free-state-struggle-in-the-west-and-the-prelude-to-the-civil-war-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}