Provides biographical profiles of twenty individuals who shaped and defined the debates over slavery during the Civil War period.

The bloody career of John Brown -- Too late to the prize : James Buchanan -- Freedom national : the life of Salmon Chase -- The stubborn resolve of Jefferson Davis -- "Let the voice of the people rule" : Stephen A. Douglas -- From slavery to freedom : Frederick Douglass and the struggle for equality -- The fear of freedom : George Fitzhugh and the pro-slavery argument -- The eccentric genius of Horace Greeley -- Andrew Johnson and the challenge of impeachment -- Abraham Lincoln and the house divided -- Duty and stoicism : Robert E. Lee -- The young Napoleon : George Brinton McClellan -- The triumphs and contradictions of William H. Seward -- Alexander Stephens : diminutive Whig statesman -- Thaddeus Stevens : radical of radicals -- Literary soldier in a noble cause : Harriet Beecher Stowe -- Charles Sumner and the struggle for equality -- Clement Laird Vallandigham : leader of a "respectable minority" -- Submission or secession : the tragic career of William Lowndes Yancey -- Short biographies.