Start here to learn more about the events discussed in this chapter.
Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men (1970). Still offers the best analysis of the ideology of the Republican Party.
Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest (1989). Highlights social conflicts in the West.
William A. Link, Roots of Secession (2003). A good state-focused study about the causes of secession.
Stephen Oates, With Malice Toward None (1977). A classic biography about Lincoln.
Leonard L. Richards, The Slave Power: The Free North and Southern Domination, 1780–1860 (2000). Offers a broad cultural analysis.
The PBS documentary The West and its Web site (pbs.org/weta/thewest) offer a comprehensive history of the West, and the PBS Web site on the U.S.-Mexican War: 1846–1848 (pbs.org/usmexicanwar) covers both American and Mexican perspectives of this pivotal event.