Brenda Wineapple Knihy

The mid-nineteenth century in America was marked by ambition and expansion, as the nation sought new territories and technological advancements while grappling with the moral dilemma of slavery. Award-winning historian Brenda Wineapple delves into this tumultuous period, highlighting the emotional and ideological conflicts that led to a devastating civil war. The narrative captures the transformation of the country from a loose confederation into a unified nation, emphasizing the profound costs of this evolution in ideals of freedom and justice.

"When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Vice-President Andrew Johnson became 'the Accidental President,' it was a dangerous time in America. Congress was divided over how the Union should be reunited: when and how the secessionist South should regain full status, whether former Confederates should be punished, and when and whether black men should be given the vote. Devastated by war and resorting to violence, many white Southerners hoped to restore a pre-Civil War society, if without slavery, and the pugnacious Andrew Johnson seemed to share their goals. With the unchecked power of executive orders, Johnson ignored Congress, pardoned rebel leaders, promoted white supremacy, opposed civil rights, and called Reconstruction unnecessary. It fell to Congress to stop the American president who acted like a king. With profound insights and making use of extensive research, Brenda Wineapple dramatically evokes this pivotal period in American history, when the country was rocked by the first-ever impeachment of a sitting American president. And she brings to vivid life the extraordinary characters who brought that impeachment forward: the willful Johnson and his retinue of advocates--including complicated men like Secretary of State William Seward--as well as the equally complicated visionaries committed to justice and equality for all, like Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, Frederick Douglass, and Ulysses S. Grant. Theirs was a last-ditch, patriotic, and Constitutional effort to render the goals of the Civil War into reality and to make the Union free, fair, and whole."--Dust jacket

Set against the backdrop of the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee, this account delves into the clash between science and religion, embodied by the defense attorney Clarence Darrow and the fundamentalist prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. The trial, a media spectacle, highlighted deep divisions in American society regarding race, class, and faith. Historian Brenda Wineapple vividly chronicles the ambitions and ideologies of both men, exploring themes of individual freedom, religious intolerance, and the cultural battles that defined an era.