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
Test captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2008 lilienth. Lincoln won the 1860 president ial election because he carried every free state except for a divided electoral vote in new jersey. So he compiled a clear majority in the Electoral College and as we all know, of course, it is electoral votes that count. He also amassed far more popular votes than any of the other three candidates. But his plurality victory gained only 40 of the nationwide popular vote. He got no electoral votes and hardly any popular votes in the south. He was not on the ball loballotn Southern States. As we have seen an articulate ideological minority of republicans did consider slavery a moral problem, but mainstream republican moderates always said slavery was beyond their reach. Lincolns victory shocked the south. Throughout the summer and fall political orators warned of catastrophe. A symbolic humiliation added to southern distress. The south contended for a supposed constitutional right the rig
Im jamie colby, and today im on the road in lawrence, kansas, on my way to the university of kansas home of the jayhawks, one of the most storied teams in all of basketball. Now, kansas is actually not where the tale of this strange inheritance begins, but through a turn of events, it does wind up here. In 1939, my grandfather, dr. James naismith passed away and left us an artifact that dates back to 1891. He was my greatgrandfather, and what he left us was the magna carta of basketball. Naismiths. Jamie. Im jim. Good to meet you. Hi, jim. How are you . Jamie, im sean naismith. Great to meet you both. Likewise. I am interested to hear about your strange inheritance. Im awfully curious what the connection is to k. U. Wed love to show you. My greatgrandfather, dr. James naismith, started the first basketball teams here at k. U. [ whistle blows ] but time out lets reset the clock. The boy who would grow up to invent basketball, James Naismith, is born in ontario, canada, in 1861. At age 9
[ bird caws ] im jamie colby in southampton county, virginia. Im here to visit a family, some of whose ancestors were murdered in the nat turner slave revolt. Their strange inheritance . A powerful and some would say holy relic of that bloody and historic rampage. My name is wendy creekmoreporter. My stepfather inherited a bible with a controversial past. Hes 88, and his memorys going, so he asked me to tell our familys story. Hi, wendy. Im jamie colby. So nice to meet you. I meet wendy at persons methodist church. The forebearers of her stepfather, maurice person, started the church in 1838, seven years after the family is nearly decimated in nat turners slave rebellion. I cant think of a more appropriate place to learn about an old bible that survives from that bloody day. What did the bible look like . Tattered. Its missing the cover, very small. It was obviously something that you could carry on you. And, according to person family lore, the centuries old book belonged to the upris
[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby, and today im driving into the oldest settlement in louisiana. Its called natchitoches. Its rich in Southern Charm and civil war history. Battles raged nearby, both along and on the red river. Well, that history inspired one mans remarkable craftsmanship. But it left his son wondering what the heck to do with all the crafts. My name is Larry Atteridge. In 2008, my father passed away and left behind his lifes work a massive fleet of amazingly detailed model ships he built from scratch. Hi, larry. Im jamie. Well, hi, jamie. Nice to meet you. Great to meet you. Thanks for inviting me deep into louisiana. It sure is pretty. Well, ive got a lot to show you. Come this way. Larry invites me in to see some of his fathers civil war ships. This is one cool viewer submission. Which one is that . This is the eastport, which was on the red river here in natchitoches parish. It was one of the largest ironclads of the civ