Excerpt from The Era of the Civil War: 1848-1870HE development of Illinois out of the frontier and through the storm and stress of Civil War is the story Of an evolving western democracy in a period of grave transi tion, it was then that the hopes of the pioneer were finding buoyant expression in the prosperity of the prairies and in the assumption of a full share of responsibility in the nation's burdens. The story of Illinois thus striving to be first in war and first in peace is complicated by the place taken by Illinois leaders on the roll of national heroes, indeed, the historian of this period finds himself torn between the demands of the common people for an interpretation of their democratic in¿u ence over against the looming in¿uence Of the statesman on the hustings, in the national legislature, or in the presidential chair. In the synthesis here presented the author has tried to weigh with care the proportions due to every phase of the stirring life on the prairies of Illinois.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.