And he argues that president lincoln was against slavery, but was willing to accept it in order to preserve the union. This is an hour and a half, hosted by the New York Historical society and the bryant park reading room. Thank you alex castle and paul room arrow. And thanks to the Bryant Park Corporation and the bryant park reading room, and the hsbc corporation and all those who have made it possible for me to appear here tonight. Its a particular privilege to speak here in new york city. Already, in 1860, as it remains today, new york was the nerve center of the nation. The herald, the tribune, the times, the three most influential and widely read newspapers in the United States, were publish right here. Each provides the historian with a wealth of insights, and each informs my presentation tonight. Here is what i am going to talk about. I focus on the fateful series of events in late 1860, and early 1861, when a president ial election triggered a grave crisis, and before long, a c
Good evening. Im harold, the chair of the lincoln forum. It is time now for our main event. I am proud to welcome back to the forum two of my favorite people, not only as friends, but as colleagues in the civil war field. Gary gallagher and joan waugh. Individually and as a team, they are superlative interpreters of the civil war era who combine military history and social and cultural history and bring to their scholarship and engagement with readers and audiences great knowledge, sophistication, and style. As your packets enumerate, they have individually and together and live into the literature over the years. Gary gallagher is a Professor Emeritus in the history of the American Civil War at the university of virginia and he is former director of the now civil war Sector Center there. You are all familiar with his major works, the confederate war, the union war, lee and his generals in war and memory. He is also, like many in this room, an aficionado, but more, an expert on civil w
Individually and as a team, they are interpreters of the civil war era who combine military history and social and cultural history and bring to their scholarship and their engagement with readers and audiences great knowledge, great sophistication and great style. As your biographical pacts enumerate, they have individually and together enriched and enlived the literature over the years. Gary gallagher is the john now the third Professor Emeritus in the professor of civil war at the university of virginia and youre all familiar, i know with his major works, the confederate war, the union war, lee and his generals in war and memory. Hes also like me and many others in this room, an oh fish gnaw doe, but more an expert on civil war themed films but his passion has inspired a terrific 2008 book causes won lost and forgotten. How hollywood and popular art shape what we know about the civil war. Hes the coed or the of with liz who just published new perspectives on the union war. Joan waug
People and events in a temporal setting. You do not have the civil war without the increasingly fractious and antagonistic sectional posturing. That takes place in the 1850s. It was compounded by two weak president s bad decisionmaking. The political crisis of the 1850s is a term, as best i can tell, that was invented by michael holt, professor of history for many years at the niversity of virginia. In fact, the mentor to both Rachel Sheldon and me. I think i was his first phd students, and rachel maybe his final one. That is quite the bookend. The political crisis of the 1850s was a piece that ran through michaels lectures at yale, and when he joined the faculty at the university of virginia in the mid1970s. It became the basis for a book, a very influential book that he wrote, and it has had staying power in the conversation amongst scholars ever since. It is pretty easy to understand why that is so. You just have to think about what happens after the gold rush in california as the w
I am not specifically a civil war historian, but i moonlight in the field. Thatnk it is appropriate we open our discussion of the political crisis of the 1850s as the prelude to what follows in this next five days. History is fundamentally about people and events in a temporal setting. You do not have the civil war without the increasingly fractious and antagonistic sectional process during posturing. Weaks compounded by two president s bad decisionmaking. The political crisis of the 1850s is a term, as best i can tell, that was invented by ofhael holt, professor history for many years at the university of virginia. His first phd students, and rachel maybe his final one. That is quite the bookend. Thepolitical crisis of 1850s was a piece that ran through michaels lectures at yale, and when he joined the faculty at the university of virginia in the mid1970s. ,t became the basis for a book a very in tool influential book, that he wrote, and it has had staying power in the conversation am