Riding the wave of history: abolitionists in the Revolutionary era -- Disenchantment: the forging of a minority, 1780-1830 -- Garrison enters the scene: 1829-1831 -- Goading the monster: the 1830's -- The "slave power" strikes back -- The attempted purge of the Garrisonian heretics -- "No Union with slavholders". Radicals challenge the status quo: the 1840's -- Fugitive slaves force the issue: the 1850's -- An abolitionist revival: 1850-1854 -- The resort to carnal weapons: politics and guns, 1854-1860 -- "Trampling out the vintage": the Civil War and after.
