The previously untold story of the violence in Congress that helped spark the Civil War In The Field of Blood, Joanne B. Freeman recovers the long-lost story of physical violence on the floor of the U.S. Congress. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources, she shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict in the decades before the Civil War. Legislative sessions were often punctuated by mortal … often punctuated by mortal threats, canings, flipped desks, and all-out slugfests. When debate broke down, congressmen drew pistols and waved Bowie knives. One representative even killed another in a duel. Many were beaten and bullied in an attempt to intimidate them into compliance, particularly on the issue of slavery.
These fights didn’t happen in a vacuum. Freeman’s dramatic accounts of brawls and thrashings tell a larger story of how fisticuffs and journalism, and the powerful emotions they elicited, raised tensions between North and South and led toward war. In the process, she brings the antebellum Congress to life, revealing its rough realities–the feel, sense, and sound of it–as well as its nation-shaping import. Funny, tragic, and rivetingly told, The Field of Blood offers a front-row view of congressional mayhem and sheds new light on the careers of John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and other luminaries, as well as introducing a host of lesser-known but no less fascinating men. The result is a fresh understanding of the workings of American democracy and the bonds of Union on the eve of their greatest peril.
more
With narrative flair and scholarly gravitas, Joanne Freeman has given us a powerful and original account of a ferociously divided America. For readers who think things in the first decades of the 21st century have never been worse, Freeman’s portrait of a tempestuous and tumultuous U.S. Congress offers a sobering and illuminating corrective. She shows us that the battles of the Civil War began not at Fort Sumter but in the U.S. Capitol, providing a new and compelling angle of vision on the origins of what Lincoln called our ‘fiery trial.’
Fascinating . . . [Field of Blood] demonstrates the historic truth of an observation by black activist H. Rap Brown in the 1960s: ‘Violence is a part of America’s culture; it is as American as cherrypie.’ . . . [Joanne B.] Freeman’s book goes far toward explaining why there was a Civil War.
In 1861, Americans grimly set to slaughtering the better part of a million of their fellow citizens. It was the most extraordinary break in the nation’s history―and Joanne Freeman charts its approach in an extraordinary new way. With insightful analysis and vivid detail, she explores the human relationships among congressmen before the Civil War, and finds a culture of astonishing violence. In fistfights, duels, and mass brawls, her innovative account detects steps toward disunion―and changes how we think about political history.
4 stars – It was really good
In The Field of Blood, Joanne Freeman traces the history of physical violence on the floor of the U.S. Congress leading up to the Civil War. Drawing on a range of historical sources, Freedman shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict, duels, and lifelong grudges.
This was a fascinating look at Congressional history. While we are taught about the events leading up to the war, we were never taught about how bloodthirsty and violent the men really were. This book gives a new perspective to the careers of big names like John Quincy Adams and lesser known figures like William Brown French. The most valuable source for most of the information in this book came from French’s diaries. French served as a Congressman, Clerk of the House, and Commissioner of Public Buildings from the 30’s to the 60s.
As an archivist, I love the amount of detail and historical records sourced for this book. I especially love that French’s diaries were preserved for this long and are such a valuable insight into this violent Congress. It amazed me the amount of dueling, fighting, and verbal attacks that happened during this time. One Senator was even beaten almost to death with a cane on the Senate floor!
“Most congressional bullying wasn’t about bloodlust, although some blood was shed. It was grounded on the gut-wrenching power of public humiliation before colleagues, constituents, and the nation-at-large.”
Overall, this was a fascinating book about a very important part of history. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the Civil War or Congress. Also, I feel like I am going to have to listen to this one again in the future because it was just so fascinating and filled with so much information that I know I didn’t retain it all. Also I loved that the author herself narrated the audiobook. She did a wonderful job.
Compelling and exceptionally well documented history of the violence within Congress itself in the decades before the Civil War.
Joanne Freeman puts us on the tumultuous and touchy floor of Congress during its most contentious and momentous years. In a story researched and written with bold energy, she chronicles a young America brawling its way toward war. The personalities and conflicts of long-forgotten duels and fights leap to life, speaking to our own time with surprising relevance.
Joanne Freeman of Yale calls attention to the scandalously frequent role of violence in the United States Congress across 28 tense years culminating in the Civil War. She describes many varieties of Congressional violence, including bullying, fighting in the halls of Congress, fisticuffs, guns, knives, duels and threats of duels. With painstaking research, she penetrates the conspiracy of silence imposed by sources frequently reluctant to publicize the embarrassing truth. The reader is surprised that such an important story should have waited so long to be told.