It could be argued that the civil war was the most influential event in the history of the United States. In THE CIVIL WAR AND THE CONSTITUTION, political scientist John W. Burgess explores the politics, people, and sentiments of this time, and closely examines the constitutional issues of the Civil War. Volume 1 of this two-volume work covers anti-slavery sentiment in the South between 1857 and 1860, the presidential election of 1860, the secession of the South, Lincoln's administration, and military campaigns. Burgess also provides personal histories of the three men who were called to lead during this time -- Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Stephen Arnold Douglas. JOHN W. BURGESS, Ph.D., LL.D., was a professor of political science and constitutional law and dean of the faculty of political science at Columbia University in New York.