Download or read book The Center Could Not Hold: Congressman William H. English and His Antebellum Political Times written by Elliott Schimmel and published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This book was released on 2020-08-14 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Hayden English of Indiana, congressman from 1853–1861, ended his official political career one and a half months before the attack on Fort Sumter. Though his name may not be as well known as other antebellum historical figures, he actively and influentially participated in all the major political events of the great drama that culminated in the most devastating war in American history. While this book is specifically a close analysis of one antebellum politician, it also acts as a comprehensive study by which one may examine not only the perspective and struggles of a single congressman, but also the contextual political environment that surrounded America’s descent into the great tragedy of the Civil War.