This collection of late antebellum U.S. Senate speeches exemplifies the official statements of the public men from the South, North, and West as they struggled with the questions of national identity and the right of self-government within the context of the rule of law. In the forum of the world's greatest deliberative body, senators made constitutional and political arguments on behalf of the states' rights and nationalistic models of the federal union.

In presenting rhetorical exchanges between senators, The Politics of Dissolution delineates the critical events that pushed and pulled the nation towards dissolution and internecine war. Partisan politics, slavery, secession, empire-building, religion, culture, and fiscal policy are among the issues debated.

DeRosa has not rehashed the voluminous commentary of secondary literature on the causes and justifications for secession and its aftermath. Rather, by presenting the climactic Senate orations during the secession winter of 1860-1861 DeRosa puts students and scholars interested in the causes and effects of the war in the Senate galleries.

Readers are invited to judge for themselves the successes and failures of the unique American experiment in republican self-government at this critical juncture of the regime's development. This book will be of interest to those interested in the Civil War and current issues in federalism.