The origins and evolution of the conflict between North and South can be traced back to the early years of the American Republic, as Stephen Hyslop demonstrates in this volume, an exploration of how the incipient fissure between the Union's initial slave states and free states lengthened and deepened as the nation advanced westward.

"Explores how an incipient rift between the states over slavery at the United States' founding lengthened and deepened, risking civil war, as the nation advanced westward" --