Monthly Archives: December 2020
The Radicalism of the American Revolution
I found this book by Professor Gordon Wood to be an exemplar of the axiom, “the past is a foreign country.” Time after time Professor Wood explains how things were done in colonial times and during the Revolution which are very different from the way we do things and understand things today. In order to […]
South to Freedom
This is Professor Alice Baumgartner speaking about enslaved people who escaped to freedom in Mexico, based on her book, South to Freedom. She has a lot of good information for us. The video’s description reads, “Historian Alice Baumgartner recalled the lives of slaves who escaped the South for Mexico. This was a virtual event hosted by […]
Disease & 19th Century Slave Trade
Professor David Blight conducts this interview with Professor Manuel Barcia on diseases and the Atlantic slave trade. There is a lot of information here we don’t normally get. This is based on Professor Barcia’s book, The Yellow Demon of Fever: Fighting Disease in the Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Slave Trade. The video’s description reads, “Historian Manuel Barcia, […]
Dakota Dawn
This book by Gregory Michno tells us about the first week of the Dakota War of 1862, what he calls the “Sioux Uprising.” As an aside, “Sioux” is actually a pejorative. The various groups of the tribe include Dakota, Lakota, or Nakota depending on their dialects. By way of background, “The name ‘sioux’ is short […]
Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth of Freedom
This short book by Professor Howard Jones considers the role slavery and emancipation played in Abraham Lincoln’s foreign policy and the threat of European intervention in the American Civil War. Professor Jones tells us, “Lincoln realized early in his presidency that the slavery issue proved that domestic and foreign affairs were inseparable. He had always […]
By One Vote
Here’s Professor Michael Holt speaking about his book, By One Vote: The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876. This is a very interesting presentation with good information for us. The video’s description reads, “Michael Holt talked about his book By One Vote: The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876 (University Press of Kansas, 2011). Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes won […]
James Buchanan and William Rufus King Relationship
Here’s a pretty good presentation on the relationship between James Buchanan and William Rufus King, including considering the speculation they were more than just friends. Professor Thomas Balcerski of Eastern Connecticut University delivered this lecture. The video’s description reads, “Eastern Connecticut State University Professor Thomas Balcerski taught a class on the relationship between two prominent mid-19th […]
Student of the American Civil War 
Recent Comments