KVMR Interview with Alan Stahler – Early California Politics

So you think politics is rough now? Alan Stahler, host of KVMR's Soundings, discusses duelling and honor in the first decade of California's statehood.

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Early California's do-it-yourself ethos when it came to law enforcement and politics. Duels a popular form of problem-solving. • The last great political duel fought in America in 1859, pitting California's Chief Justice David Terry (an ardent pro-slaver) against our US Senator David Broderick (a dedicated Free-Soil man). • Both were Democrats; their conflict symbolized the the rift that was tearing the party apart along sectional lines. Broderick's death seen as political murder by many Californians – a prelude to the appalling violence to come during America's Civil War.