Join Fergus Bordewich as he relates how old lions of the Senate -- including Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun -- joined with young rising stars such as Jefferson Davis and Stephen Douglas to formulate the Compromise of 1850. This agreement simultaneously saved the Union from collapse, and set it on the path to the war that would nearly destroy it.

Fergus Bordewich, an independent scholar, is the author of America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserved the Union and Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America.

(Running time 1:03:20)