shifterian susan schulten, the transition between james buchanon and abraham lincoln is described as contentious, tumultuous, rough, dangerous and even the worst in history. what made it so? well, i think on the face of it, what you have to recognize is this is by far the most consequential election and transition in american history and the central issue, of course, is that several southern states did not recognize the election of abraham lincoln as legitimate. they considered help a sectional president for the fact that by and large his support came from non-slave states. no sooner had he been elected than south carolina makes good on its promise to from seed from seceding from the union on the grounds that the election did not represent its interest. let s set the stage for the transition between the two men with the incumbent. james buchanon had announced at his swearing in that he would be a one-term president. we do a regular presidential leadership survey and jam
described by various historians as contentious, tumultuous, dangerous, and even the worst in history. what made it so? susan: on the face of it is what you have to recognize is this was the most consequential election transition in american history. the central issue, of course, is that several southern states did not recognize the election of abraham lincoln as a legitimate. it considered him a sectional president for the fact that by and large to support came from non-slave states and no sooner had he been elected that south carolina makes good on its promise to proceed toward seceding from the union on the grounds that the election did not represent its interest. host: let s set the stage for the transition. james buchanan had announced that he would be a one term president, but we did a regular presidential leadership survey and james buchanan always falls at the bottom of the list as the worst leader in american presidential history. how would you characterize his leader
elliott about the history of african-americans in dmong the 19th century and a sea of artifacts from the house collection. the story of how african-americans come to congress in the 19th century is not one a lot of people are familiar with. we actually have 22 african-americans serve between 1870 and 1901. 20 in the house. 2 in the senate. largely a house story. and it has to do with the role of congress during the civil war, and in the decade after. during the civil war there were a group of radicals in congress, radicals, because they believed in the equality of african-americans, and wanted to create a society in the south after the war that was a multiracial society. these were radicals in the house, like thaddeus stephens, who was chairman of the ways and means committee and a very powerful leader. also people like henry winter davis. washburn. in the senate people like charles sumner and benjamin wade and they really drove the agenda and pushed the lincoln administrat
the story of how african-americans come to congress in the 19th century is not one a lot of people are familiar with. we actually have 22 african-americans serve between 1870 and 1901. 20 in the house. 2 in the senate. largely a house story. and it has to do with the role of congress during the civil war, and in the decade after. during the civil war there were a group of radicals in congress, radicals, because they believed in the equality of african-americans, and wanted to create a society in the south after the war that was a multiracial society. these were radicals in the house, like thaddeus stephens, who was chairman of the ways and means committee and a very powerful leader. also people like henry winter davis. washburn. in the senate people like charles sumner and benjamin wade. and they really drove the agenda and pushed the lincoln administration to not only prosecute the war more vigorously but also to have a reconstruction after the war that was one that was no
the aha is a membership-supported organization, just a reminder. one has to say these things, anybody who watches public television or listens to public radio is ready for this. if you would like to become a member and support this type of content, membership links are located in the chat on zoom and in the comments on facebook live. i want to give an especially grateful thankful to history channel for their generous sponsorship of this webinar. let s get started. it is an honor to introduce today s panelists, annette gordon-reed, professor of law and history at harvard university. and david blight, professor of history and director of the lehrman center for the study of slavery, abolition and resistance at yale university. the professors are pulitzer prize winning historians and they have won lots of other prizes as well. they have written and spoken frequently and insightfully on issues relating to monuments, history, memory and our nation s continued failure to fully confr