Bill Clinton Historical lecture. I would like to thank our great trustee and benefactor, bernard schwartz, for his generosity and making this event and many of our Public Programs possible. [applause] i would also like to recognize and thank one of our trustees who has joined us today, david blight. One of our panelists. I would take this opportunity to say how proud we are to count david among our trustees at new York Historical. I want to recognize laura washington and mercedes franklin, who are cochairs of our Frederick Douglass counsel. Of course, welcome all members who have joined up today. Joined usned us today. [applause] and i want to recognize a longstanding and very special friend of new York Historical, eric rudin, who has joined us this morning. Thank eric for all he and his family have done over a very long time at this institution. Thank you. [applause] this Mornings Program will last about an hour and a half and it will include a question and answer session. You should
I would also like to recognize and thank one of our trustees who has joined us today, david blight. One of our panelists. Opportunity tois say how proud we are to count david among our trustees at New York Historical. I want to recognize laura washington and mercedes franklin, who are cochairs of our Frederick Douglass counsel. Of course, welcome all members who have joined up today. Who have joined up today. [applause] and i want to recognize a if not, my colleagues are going up and down the aisles with notecards and pencils. The notecards will be collected later on in the program. There will be a book signing following the program this morning. The book signing will take place right outside these central doors in the smith gallery. Copies of the books are available for purchase at our ny History Museum store, which is located to my left on the 77th street side. We are really, truly delighted to welcome our guest speakers. David blight, professor of American History and director of th
Good evening and welcome to the National Churchill library and center. My name is Michael Bishop and im director of the library and executive director of the International Church and society. The result of a collaboration between the society of the George Washington university, the library is a First Research facility in the Nations Capital devoted to the study of winston churchill. Here, students and visitors have access to a vast range of primary and secondary materials and interactive touchscreen exhibits and soon displays of original manuscripts and artifacts. And let me take this opportunity to encourage you to join the interNational Churchill society by visiting our website, webdit winston churchill. Org. The benefits of membership are many and include a subscription to our quarterly publication of churchill scholarship finest hour. A few programming notes before turning to the subject of the evening. I hope you return to National Churchill library and center on march 1 when elio
Each provides the historian with a wealth of insights, at each informs my presentation tonight. Heres what im going to talk about. I focus on the faithful series of events in late 1860 and early 1861, when a president ial election triggered a grave crisis, and before long, a civil war. Let us hope that history never repeats itself. But let us remember that any durable electoral system has attributes that we dare not take for granted. It presupposes some degree of shared values. Presupposes that you accept the legitimacy of your opponents , and that you accept the verdict of the voters. That Political Parties behave responsibly. And be prepared to govern. It presupposes the Neither Party nominated and on horseback who might try not been to the entire system. End thet try to up entire system. It presupposes the bullets never replace ballots. I will organize this into four topics. Lincoln and the Republican Party. I will try to answer several key questions. What did lincoln and the republ
Making more money off the forced labor of africanamericans than they ever have before. I have seen statistics from economists that study this, and the amount of wealth from cotton exceeds every other investment in america. Tons of money has been made off the cotton empire. And we see how americans have gotten into the cotton empire with the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s, americas transition from tobaccobased agriculture to cotton agriculture. If there is one thing i want you guys to get out of this class, slavery is not just a southern history topic. It is an American History topic. Scholars who study this subject emphasize the fact that the slave system has its tentacles into every corner of northern and southern society. This is not just down there in the moonlight and magnolias. New york bankers were in the cotton empire up to their eyeballs. As a matter of fact, when the war breaks out, many of the people who sympathize from the confederacy are from new york because they