Chronicles the 1850s appeals of Western territories to join the Union as slave or free states, profiling period balances in the Senate, Henry Clay's attempts at compromise, and the border crisis between New Mexico and Texas.

In December 1848, a young enslaved couple named Ellen and William Craft traveled openly by rail, coach and steamship from Macon, Georgia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ellen, who passed for white, disguised herself as a wealthy disabled man, with William as "his" slave. Woo follows their journey north, and in joining the abolitionist lecture circuit. When the new Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 put them at risk, they fled from the United States. Their very existence challenged the nation's core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all. -- Adapted from jacket.

"Religion and science often appear to cause conflict in American public life. But why? This book reports the results from the first study to combine large-scale empirical analysis of multiple "religion and science" debates with in-depth research into what Americans actually want from public life. The surprising finding is that apparent conflicts involving religion and science reflect a more fundamental conflict between media elites and ordinary Americans over what good debate should be, raising profound questions about the future of the public sphere and American democracy"--Provided by publisher.

Kentucky has long punched above its weight in the US Senate, as some of the nation's most distinguished senators have hailed from the Commonwealth. Despite its relatively small population for much of American history, Kentucky has produced a record two Senate majority leaders, a record three Senate majority whips, and one of the country's greatest lawmakers, Henry Clay. These Kentuckians played an important role in the evolution of leadership institutions in the Senate. Official positions such as Senate majority leader and majority whip are nowhere to be found in the Constitution or early American history, yet today these offices have essentially eclipsed the constitutionally created legislative leadership positions of vice president and president pro tempore. While Kentucky senators have played a vital role in leading the Senate and in its institutional history, no book has told the story in its entirety. The US Senate and the Commonwealth is the first book of its kind to provide a detailed, yet accessible, discussion of the US Senate's leadership throughout its 225-year history. Senator Mitch McConnell and Roy E. Brownell II weave together the history of the Senate with lively portraits of prominent Kentucky senators as well as firsthand reflections about legislative leadership by a Senate majority leader. The authors illuminate and humanize this discussion by exploring the colorful and vivid lives of fifteen Kentucky lawmakers, including Henry Clay, Alben Barkley, and John Sherman Cooper. This compelling and fascinating study is an essential resource.