West of Slavery

“Waite provides vivid detail in this readable narrative, as well as abundant documentation of primary and secondary sources and helpful maps and illustrations. . . . Readers interested in the South and Confederacy will benefit from this fine work that broadens our understanding of this important era of American history.”—Library Journal

“Corrects oversights on Western slavery that are rooted in familiar mythology. . . . By showing how slavery was integral to the development of the Southwestern territories, Waite brings much-needed energy to the study of Western history, which has for too long regarded the region as special and alien to the controversies that divided the rest of the country. This is a critical contribution to our understanding of why slavery poisoned the whole nation and not merely a portion.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

“West of Slavery is insightful, well researched, and a pleasure to read, making it accessible to scholars, students, and Civil War buffs alike.”—H-CivWar

“An important entry into the study of the region during this critical nation-building period, Waite’s work reveals how the fight to ensure the continuation of slavery in the United States spread from coast to coast, providing an absorbing perspective on the road to civil war.”—Civil War History

“West of Slavery recovers how a vast region dominated by scrupulous ruling elites, blessed by federal powerbrokers, and regulated by militant racial violence played critical roles in the sectional crises of the 1850s, the transnational aims of the slaveholding Confederacy, and the devastating white 'redemption' of the Reconstruction era. In spanning the entire Civil War era, Waite compels scholars to reconsider their prior assumptions.”—Andrew F. Lang, Missouri Historical Review

“Waite’s statement that 'slaveholders lusted after a transpacific dominion' is vividly supported by this book. . . . Kevin Waite is not only a determined scholar. He is also a wonderful writer.”—Boom California

“Readers may be shocked to learn that no other free state has more Confederate monuments than California. Waite’s map of their locations in the Epilogue would be a particularly effective teaching tool for historians of the West and Civil War memory. West of Slavery is engaging and convincing.”—Megan Kate Nelson, Southern California Quarterly

“A significant achievement of scholarship. . . . As the scholarship on the Civil War in the West continues to develop, West of Slavery should long stand as a critical intervention in the literature.”—Civil War Monitor

“Waite demonstrates that, from Thomas Jefferson on, the South had big plans for the West. . . . [This] enlightening book provides details of the Southern strategy to 'own' the West.”—Crosscut

“A clear and energetic account that is eminently readable and teachable. It is a bold case for the importance of the West in up-to-date Civil War and Reconstruction histories, and for taking seriously the influence of slavery’s partisans in the U.S. West and beyond.”—Western Historical Quarterly