The F Street Mess

How Southern Senators Rewrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government
Cover of the book The F Street Mess by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Alice Elizabeth Malavasic ISBN: 9781469635538
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: September 26, 2017
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
ISBN: 9781469635538
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: September 26, 2017
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Pushing back against the idea that the Slave Power conspiracy was merely an ideological construction, Alice Elizabeth Malavasic argues that some southern politicians in the 1850s did indeed hold an inordinate amount of power in the antebellum Congress and used it to foster the interests of slavery. Malavasic focuses her argument on Senators David Rice Atchison of Missouri, Andrew Pickens Butler of South Carolina, and Robert M. T. Hunter and James Murray Mason of Virginia, known by their contemporaries as the "F Street Mess" for the location of the house they shared. Unlike the earlier and better-known triumvirate of John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, the F Street Mess was a functioning oligarchy within the U.S. Senate whose power was based on shared ideology, institutional seniority, and personal friendship.

By centering on their most significant achievement--forcing a rewrite of the Nebraska bill that repealed the restriction against slavery above the 36 degrees 30′ parallel--Malavasic demonstrates how the F Street Mess's mastery of the legislative process led to one of the most destructive pieces of legislation in United States history and helped pave the way to secession.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Pushing back against the idea that the Slave Power conspiracy was merely an ideological construction, Alice Elizabeth Malavasic argues that some southern politicians in the 1850s did indeed hold an inordinate amount of power in the antebellum Congress and used it to foster the interests of slavery. Malavasic focuses her argument on Senators David Rice Atchison of Missouri, Andrew Pickens Butler of South Carolina, and Robert M. T. Hunter and James Murray Mason of Virginia, known by their contemporaries as the "F Street Mess" for the location of the house they shared. Unlike the earlier and better-known triumvirate of John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, the F Street Mess was a functioning oligarchy within the U.S. Senate whose power was based on shared ideology, institutional seniority, and personal friendship.

By centering on their most significant achievement--forcing a rewrite of the Nebraska bill that repealed the restriction against slavery above the 36 degrees 30′ parallel--Malavasic demonstrates how the F Street Mess's mastery of the legislative process led to one of the most destructive pieces of legislation in United States history and helped pave the way to secession.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book A History of the Book in America by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book My Other Loneliness by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Censoring Racial Ridicule by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Contesting the New South Order by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Pie by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Challenging the Secret Government by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book A Word for Nature by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Ambiguous Discourse by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book If It Takes All Summer by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book North Carolina's Hurricane History by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Signatures of Citizenship by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Learning from the Wounded by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
Cover of the book Nature's State by Alice Elizabeth Malavasic
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy