{"product_id":"wide-awake-the-forgotten-force-that-elected-lincoln-and-spurred-the-civil-war-9781639730643","title":"Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force That Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Excellent.\"\u003c\/b\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal * \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A must-read.\"-The Civil War Monitor \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA propulsive account of our history's most surprising, most consequential political club: the Wide Awake anti-slavery youth movement that marched America from the 1860 election to civil war.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt the start of the 1860 presidential campaign, a handful of fired-up young Northerners appeared as bodyguards to defend anti-slavery stump speakers from frequent attacks. The group called themselves the Wide Awakes. Soon, hundreds of thousands of young White and Black men, and a number of women, were organizing boisterous, uniformed, torch-bearing brigades of their own. These Wide Awakes--mostly working-class Americans in their twenties--became one of the largest, most spectacular, and most influential political movements in our history. To some, it demonstrated the power of a rising majority to push back against slavery. To others, it looked like a paramilitary force training to invade the South. Within a year, the nation would be at war with itself, and many on both sides would point to the Wide Awakes as the mechanism that got them there. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this gripping narrative, Smithsonian historian Jon Grinspan examines how exactly our nation crossed the threshold from a political campaign into a war. Perfect for readers of \u003ci\u003eLincoln on the Verge \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eField of Blood\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWide Awake \u003c\/i\u003ebears witness to the power of protest, the fight for majority rule, and the defense of free speech. At its core, \u003ci\u003eWide Awake\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates a question American democracy keeps posing, about the precarious relationship between violent speech and violent actions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJon Grinspan \u003c\/b\u003eis a curator of political history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. He is the author of two other books, \u003ci\u003e The Age of Acrimony\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Virgin Vote\u003c\/i\u003e, frequently contributes to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times, \u003c\/i\u003e and has been featured in the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker \u003c\/i\u003eand the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e and on\u003ci\u003e CBS Sunday Morning\u003c\/i\u003e. At the Smithsonian, he collects objects from historic and contemporary politics-attending elections, conventions, and protests-to help tell the material story of our democracy to present and future Americans. He lives in Washington, D.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50586100400402,"sku":"9781639730643","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dbbfd51b-7b76-4760-9e82-4330512994a3.jpg?v=1732041387","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/wide-awake-the-forgotten-force-that-elected-lincoln-and-spurred-the-civil-war-9781639730643","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}