Magnificent day. This 14th of july, the day in which we french celebrate the beginning of our revolution. I am here meeting with my dear friend, your thomas jefferson, in hopes that he shall arrive sometime soon, so let us hope we can all have a conversation together. Where is mr. Jefferson . Mon cher, lafayette. Mon cher, jefferson. What a pleasure it is to see you again over so many years. More than 30 years, absolutely. And with great reverence to bastille day. Just as we celebrate the fourth of july, in france it is the 14th of july. We shall celebrate together, my friend. General, we have not forgotten your assistance in our nation either, and the American Revolution would have never been successful without the aid of france. It is a grand alliance between our two nations, my friends general rochambeau, others coming to the assistance of our newfound friend and ally, the United States. And mr. Marquis, we are not alone. We have the world with us today, welcoming us all back to mon
Dwight pitcaithley. [applause] ms. Drake dr. Pitcaithley nick promised he was not going to include the rockstar part. Thanks to nick for that wonderful introduction. Thank you that we can have a conversation that goes on for another 30 or 45 minutes. Robert and moran, who, many of you know, was a Pulitzer Prize civil war is our only felt history. History lived in the national imagination. I think thats true whether your ancestry goes back that far or not. My mostly does not. But the civil war affects ken burns, maybe its part of the dna. We think about it a lot. Every year when i teach the civil war course, the first day i give my students an exam and i ask them, in a word or phrase tell me what caused the civil war, what caused secession . Without secession there is no civil war. Everybody has an answer. Its not the same answer. But they all have an answer. Its states rights no, no, no. Its labored. No, its the tariff. General economic issues. I think its cultural differences to train
Nick so since he retired, he teaches at new mexico state university, teaches about history and Civil War History and he had a book that came out this week, the u. S. Constitution and secession. It is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce you to dr. Dwight pitcaithley. Dr. Pitcaithley he promised he was not going to include the rockstar part. Best laid plans. Thank you for coming tonight. Thanks to nick that wonderful introduction and thanks to the grant site for hosting this event. Im going to talk about 25 or 30 minutes, and then alternative over to you, so you can talk about whatever you want to talk about, and we hope that during my time, i have been provocative enough that we can have a conversation that goes on for another 35 or 40 minutes. Robert jim moran, who many of you know, threetime loser prizewinner, wrote that the civil war is our only felt history, history lived in the national imagination, and i think that is true, whether your ancestry goes back that far on not.
War blog. Its an hour. Our next speaker will be speaking on the battle of Wilsons Creek. Shes a native of missouri and specializes in the trans mississippi west. Kristen received her master of arts from Webster University in Nonprofit Leadership in may of 2018. Previously she has worked for the Missouri Civil War Museum in st. Louis and the Gettysburg College special collections. Kristen is working on her first book as part of the emerging civil war series. Please join me in welcoming kristen pollack. [ applause ] all right. First of all, thank you to everyone here. Thank you to emerging civil war for having me out this evening. This is an honor to be able to speak to you all about the battle of Wilsons Creek which was fought on august the 10 sou of missouri, which is my native state. Tonights presentation is actually entitled this means war, the forgotten battle of Wilsons Creek. I want to start off kind of setting the stage and also talking a little bit about what we mean by this mea
Directors for the marine scholarship foundation. She is working on her first book in the emerging civil war series on the battle of wills and creek. Please join me wilson creek. Please join me in welcoming kristen pawlak. All right. Thank you to all of you. Thank you to emerging civil war. It is such an honor to speak to you all about the battle of Wilsons Creek which was fought in 1861 in a corner of southeastern southwestern missouri, my home state. The subtitle of this presentation is called this means war the battle of Wilsons Creek. I want to take us back to june 11 of 1861 in st. Louis, missouri to the hotel which is just downtown at one of the Nicest Hotels in the 20th century. Six of the most important early world early World Leaders met there. You have Nathaniel Lyon, his aid e, francis p. Blair, and for the secessionist leaders, you have major Clayborn Jackson, governor jacksons aide. They come to keep the peace if possible. They are there to prevent the outbreak of war in mi