Before the Storm: How (and why) did America go to War with Itself?

In retrospect, it seems hard to believe - America goes to war with itself for 4 years, with 700,000+ dead. What could have caused such a disaster?

In the years leading up to the Civil War, the United States was rapidly developing into two countries that had little in common. One country, the North, had most of the population and most of the resources. While agriculture was still part of the economy, industrialization was rapidly overtaking its place in terms of economic and societal impact.

The second country was the South. The South was living a life that would have been familiar to people from the Revolutionary War era. And the economy, far from being industrialized, was agriculture based, with slaves as the lifeblood of the plantation system.

This book will look at the many factors that led to the split of 1861 - slavery, the Abolitionist movement, politics, religion, the 1860 Presidential election, and a spate of violence in the 10 years leading up to the Civil War itself.