Abraham Lincoln: The Making of America, Book 3

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE MAKING OF AMERICA is the third historical biography in Teri Kanefield's Making of America series, which includes Alexander Hamilton and Andrew Jackson. Here, drawing upon the vast amount of research done on the life and times of one of America's most beloved political heroes, Kanefield expertly addresses the foremost political issues of the 19th century, including the expansion and preservation of slavery, debates over "states' rights" and federal power, and the meaning of "liberty and justice for all." Following Lincoln from his troubled boyhood in a fractured family to his career as an accomplished lawyer and struggling politician, Kanefield paints a picture of a man who struggled with depression his entire life, had difficulty maintaining a balance between his devotion to work and his obligations to his family, and was unwilling or unable to fully support the cause of black freedom when it was not politically advantageous to do so. Still, over the course of his dizzying rise to national prominence, Lincoln shrewdly negotiated the incredible tensions that tore apart the nation and eventually led to the Civil War. The details of Lincoln's personal life and career trajectory are supplemented by clear, in-depth introductions to important laws, debates, and activists of his time, including Frederick Douglass and the abolition movement, Susan B. Anthony and the women's movement, and several of the landmark Supreme Court cases that protected and preserved slavery.