After a contentious presidential election during the previous year, many Americans hoped that 1857 would finally bring political calm. They were sorely disappointed. Two days after James Buchanan (Class of 1809) was inaugurated president, Chief Justice Roger Taney (Class of 1795) announced the Supreme Court's controversial verdict in the Dred Scott Case. The result was more outrage and greater division over slavery. But by the year's end, bad economic news trumped the political storm as nearly five thousand businesses failed during what became known as the Panic of 1857.
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Notable Books
Notable books published in 1857:
Eliot, George. Scenes from Clerical Life. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1857.
Melville, Herman. The Confidence-man: His Masquerade. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1857.
Trollope, Anthony. Barchester Towers. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1857.
Webb, Frank J. The Garies and their Friends. London: G. Routledge, 1857.