At home in new orleans. And where i lived for 10 years. What i want to do tonight is introduce you to this case that has a kind of that has kind of disfreard the american memory, but at least for the summer of 1870 captivated the nation, newspaper readers across the country and try to explain to it you in the so that you can see what i saw as i stumbled across it. I began writing i found this story while i was doing much more traditional legal history. I was researching the famous slaughterhouse cases, the first case where the Supreme Court intercepted the 14th amendment and i was reading every single day of the new orleans newspapers in 1870 and suddenly theres this story about a bhite baby being abducted by two africanamerican women, and the rumor begins to circumstance late that the baby has been abducted for use as a voodoo sacrifice. Its just like holy smokes, what can that possibly be about . Is that true or is the press just telling a story . They talked about ghost sightings an
You can find echoes of it still. It speaks to the larger american experience. It is a kind of phenomenon that we pride ourselves of being a nation of immigrants, but we are a nation that is always questioning that tradition. Lets start with looking at things in 2014. What do americans think of immigration . If you go to ellis island, you will see this image, an american flag, very large. If you stand on one end, it has kind of a hologram effect. If you stand to be right side you just see a big flag, and if you walked to where i am standing, the image changes and you see these faces representing these different groups. To miss rates how much americans love immigration. This seems strange given the politics today, but americans, i would say most americans today in the 21st century absolutely love immigration. As strange as that may sound, hold that thought. But we know from headlines, from politics, debates in congress and so forth then americans also hate immigration. Explaining to the
All immigrants, but really focusing on the irish, the biggest and most identifiable group. They are also in the crowded cities and so forth, so they stand out and generate an enormous opposition. Lets we get into that, back up a little bit. Because we are net not just talking about the irish today, because the nativist response to the irish generates actually existed before the irish got here. You can find early versions of it in the 18th century, and you also find a goes of it since that time. So this question about antiimmigrant sentiment speaks to the larger american experience. It is a kind of phenomenon that we pride ourselves as being a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation that is always questioning that tradition. Lets start now, looking at things in 2014 very what do americans think of the migration . If you go to ellis island, you will see this image, an american flag, very large. About 20 feet long, 10 feet high. If you stand on one end, it has a hologram effect. On
Its nice to be here surrounded by pictures of Edgar Allen Poe and books about poe and baltimore in many ways has a feel a lot like new orleans, an old port city with traditions and a quirky and sometimes spooky history. And i always kind of feel at home in baltimore just as i feel at home in new orleans. And where i lived for 10 years. What i want to do tonight is introduce you to this case that has a kind of that has kind of disappeared from the american memory, but at least for the summer of 1870 captivated the nation, newspaper readers across the country and try to explain to it you in the so that you can see what i saw as i stumbled across it. I began writing i found this story while i was doing much more traditional legal history. I was researching the famous slaughterhouse cases, the first case where the Supreme Court intercepted the 14th amendment and i was reading every single day of the new orleans newspapers in 1870 and suddenly theres this story about a white baby being abdu