8. The court i think knows to be very careful and cautious in how it proceeds in dealing with those difficult cases. Obamacare is another one. The Affordable Care act. All cases that are political charged questions and the court knows that they can only do so much in that regard or they risk makes the same mistakes. Justice breyer on the legacy of the dred scott. Theres a theory what he was trying to do was avoid the civil war. His friends in congress had been telling him that if you can get this thing decided once and for all by an institution with the prestige of the Supreme Court people will accept it, it will bring peace to the nation. Believed that . Perhaps, if he was being political. Dont be political for three one, its wrong. Two, the whole point of this institution that hamilton set up was to have a group of people who werent politicians who would be deciding this. If you wanted politicians to decide it give the job to congress. And third and just as important if judges are go
Quite often and many of our most greatest decisions are ones that the court took that were quite unpopular. Lets go to a few cases that illustrate very dramatically and visually, what it means to live in a society of 310 million different people who help stick together because they believed in a rule of law. Cspan and the National Constitution center. Welcome you to the land more cases. Our 12 part history series. Exploring the people and the stories behind some of the Supreme Courts most famous dissidents. Tonight, we will be learning more about the dred scott case of 1857. Let me introduce you to our two guests to tell us about the history and impact of this case. Chris bracey is at George Washington University Law school professor. He is also the coeditor of a book called the dreads caught case and contemporary perspectives. Welcome. Martha jones is at the university of michigan. She is a history professor there and also the chair of afro american and codirector of the race line his
Pitcaithley promised he was going to include it is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce you to doctor dwight pitcaithley. applause nic promised he was not going to include the rock star part. But the best laid plans. Thank you for coming tonight. Thank you to nick for that wonderful introduction. Thank you for the site for posting this event. Im going to talk for about 25 or 30 minutes and then ill turn it over to you so you can talk about whatever you want and talk about whatever you want and hope that during my time i will have been provocative enough that we can have a conversation that goes on for another 30 or 45 minutes robert warren, many of you know, threetime pulitzer prize, who wrote that the civil war is our only felt history. History lived in the national imagination. I think that is true whether youre ancestry goes back that far or not, my mostly does not. We sort of the civil war thanks to ken burns maybe is a part of us. It is a part of our dna. We think about it
Us, a little about history in the park service. So since he retired dr. Pitcaithley teaches at new mexico state university. He teaches public history and Civil War History. He had a book that came out this week, the u. S. Constitution and secession, a documentary anthology of slavery and White Supremacy. So it is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce you to dr. Dwight pitcaithley. Nick promised he wasnt going to include the rock star part, but best laid plans. Thank you for coming tonight. Thanks to nick for that wonderful introduction, thanks to the grant site for hosting this event. Im going to talk for about 25 or 30 minutes and then turn it over to you so you can talk about whatever you want to talk about, and we hope that during my time ive been provocative enough that we can have a conversation that goes on for another 30 or 45 minutes. Robert penn warren, who many of you know threetime Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote in 1961 at the centennial of the war that the civil war is
I am the chief curator here at the b endo railroad museum, the baltimore and ohio. This is one of the premier Railroad Museums in the United States. Its also the birthplace of american railroading. Railroading began in 1827. The b and all was in Continuous Operation until 1986 and is a legacy now. Its track is basically formed with csx today. The museum is 40 acres and five buildings. The roundhouse is the jewel. Inside around house are some of the most significant pieces in our collection. We have a Rolling Stock locomotive collection of approximately 180 pieces. The roundhouse is filled with some of the most unique, worldclass, oneofakind locomotives you are ever going to find anywhere. A railroading began in the United States in maryland, the baltimore and ohio was the first common carrier, the first to carry passengers and freight on a regular schedule. The baltimore and ohio was basically formed because of the canal craze in the 1820s. The success of the erie canal lead people in