Summary of Heather Cox Richardson's To Make Men Free

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The story of the Republican Party starts in the late eighteenth century with Abraham Lincoln, who left his family to travel to the American West and settle there. He built a successful community, but was killed by Indians in 1786.

#2 The West was a land of opportunity for everyone, but this was not the case for the Lincolns. Their father had done well in Kentucky, but his sons would not share his fortune. The land in what is now Kentucky had not been carefully surveyed, which meant that no one had a clear deed to their property.

#3 Lincoln moved his family to Indiana in 1816, but he never managed to get his feet under him there. In 1830, he gave up on Indiana and moved to Illinois to start again.

#4 In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act threatened to overturn the Missouri Compromise and open the fertile western plains to slavery. Men across the North recoiled from this attempt to inject slavery into land that had been free for more than thirty years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822544499

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Insights on Heather Cox Richardson's To Make Men Free

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The story of the Republican Party starts in the late eighteenth century with Abraham Lincoln, who left his family to travel to the American West and settle there. He built a successful community, but was killed by Indians in 1786.

#2

The West was a land of opportunity for everyone, but this was not the case for the Lincolns. Their father had done well in Kentucky, but his sons would not share his fortune. The land in what is now Kentucky had not been carefully surveyed, which meant that no one had a clear deed to their property.

#3

Lincoln moved his family to Indiana in 1816, but he never managed to get his feet under him there. In 1830, he gave up on Indiana and moved to Illinois to start again.

#4

In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act threatened to overturn the Missouri Compromise and open the fertile western plains to slavery. Men across the North recoiled from this attempt to inject slavery into land that had been free for more than thirty years.

#5

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed for the expansion of slavery into new states, was a huge blow to the North. It convinced many northerners that their society was being threatened by a southern Slave Power, and the Republican Party was formed to protect economic opportunity.

#6

The Republican Party was formed in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and was dedicated to the expansion of slavery into the West. It attracted many prominent men who had been part of the Whig Party, and they began to speak out against the extension of slavery.

#7

The events of 1854 showed how the Slave Power was trying to take over the nation. The first scene of the drama was set in the new Kansas Territory, which had been carved out of the West by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It seemed that proslavery men had taken over the territory through violence and fraud, and had set up a draconian proslavery government.

#8

The attack on Sumner demonstrated the truth of his words. The Slave Power threatened the rights of white northerners to be represented in their government. Its adherents were willing to go to any extreme to push their agenda.

#9

The Dred Scott decision, which ruled that Congress had no power to stop slavery from spreading into any western Territory, alarmed northerners. It seemed like a setup, as the Court had delayed the decision until after the election to keep it from alarming voters.

#10

Lincoln was nominated for Douglas’s Senate seat in 1858, and he spoke about the House Divided speech, which painted a picture of America being taken over by slave owners. Lincoln warned that if Americans started to make exceptions to the