About the lecture

In this module, we examine the question of whether there could be a compromise on slavery at all. In particular, we look at: (i) how slavery was dealt with from the signing of the Constitution to the 1950s, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850; (ii) the Compromise of 1850, including what changes it enacted and how it was passed; (iii) the Fugitive Slave Act and how it was strengthened in 1850; and (iv) the growth in both pro- and anti- slavery arguments.

About the lecturer

Professor Nicole Etcheson is Alexander M. Bracken Professor of History at Ball State University. She specialises in the history of the sectional crisis, the Jacksonian era, the Civil War and Reconstruction. She has written widely on these themes, including her book, A Generation at War: The Civil War Era in a Northern Community (2011), which won the 2012 Avery O. Craven Award from the Organization of American Historians for most original book on the Civil War era and the 2012 Best Nonfiction Book of Indiana.