The Fate of Their Country

Michael Holt boldly accepts the challenge to debate on the topics of politicians, slavery extension, and the origin of the Civil War and shares his unique perspective through the book The Fate of Their Country. Holt uses his impressive education and passion for history in the spring of 2004 when he began putting his thoughts into words, creating his commendable book. The concept that the conflict surrounding slavery at that time solely caused the start of the Civil War simply disturbs Michael Holt.

His extensive research and knowledge on the topic have led him to believe that instead of being caused by events such as the slavery extension conflict, the Civil War could have been avoided altogether – a statement he believes to be a simple, but vital point. Holt hints that self-absorbed politicians such as James Polk and John Calhoun lacked focus on the citizens of the nation and instead treated politics as if it merely concerned the politicians involved. Holt immediately offers insight on this idea in the preface of his book.

He writes that every decision made by politicians in the office directly affects the lives of ordinary Americans. While this may be the intent of most politicians, many fail to understand that their responsibility as a leader is to make decisions for their people, not merely for their favoring party. Throughout his book, Michael Holt’s thesis is consistent: the Civil War was not simply caused by the slavery extension or merely the disunion surrounding that event. He believes that instead of focusing on the events surrounding the Civil War, perhaps we should look at the leadership involved at that time.

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Politicians could have avoided this epidemic all together by making better decisions for the people affected by their actions. To prove his theory, Holt’s main points include The Wilmot Proviso, The Compromise of 1850, and The Kansas-Nebraska Act. All three of these examples involve the topic of slavery. The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful act to ban slavery in land attained from Mexico. Similarly, the Compromise of 1850 also involved the territory from Mexico and consisted of five bills which were passed in September of 1850. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the states of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Holt’s main argument within these three instances is the idea that politicians acted merely in favor of their parties regarding the slavery extension issue, instead of representing all Americans. As referenced in the book, in 1848, Whigs especially concerned themselves with the effects of the slavery extension on their party’s chances of winning the election. Abraham Lincoln, John Calhoun, and James Polk are merely a few main characters included as examples of this in the author’s text.

Holt’s story-telling skills carry the readers through the book seamlessly, and his examples are well organized and thought out. However, despite a list of further suggested reads, Holt does not incorporate citations into the text of his piece. Including sources for his information may advance the book’s credibility and create a more convincing argument. Despite the lack of such citations, he does utilize visual aid in his book through multiple pictures. Including images and maps not only add clarity and explanation to The Fate of Their Country but also broadens the audience to reach more visual learners.

Furthermore, the author includes a thorough index at the end, which can be used to navigate an otherwise overwhelming amount of research and debate. Overall, Michael Holt’s writing style and technique does attract a wider audience than merely fellow historians or politicians – setting this book apart from competing history books. Mechanically speaking, the author’s prestigious education shows through his grammatically and foundationally correct piece. Holt’s The Fate of Their Country will most likely continue on as an influential and interesting history book for years to come.