Tag Archives: slavery

Civil War Podcast, Episode 11

Harriet Beecher Stowe
(1811-1896)

In which we discuss the Northern reaction to the new Fugitive Slave Law, which was part of the Compromise of 1850.  Plus, we look at the incredible impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly.  With its publication in 1852, this book changed forever how Americans viewed slavery.  It was a runaway bestseller, selling 300,000 copies in its first year.


Listen to Episode 11: FugitiveSlaveLaw

Civil War Podcast, Episode 10


In which we take a fast pass through the abolitionist movement in the United States, and show how it made a significant contribution to the sectional unraveling that led to the Civil War.

Our book recommendation for this episode is The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics by James Oakes.  “The perennial tension between principle and pragmatism in politics frames this engaging account of two Civil War Era icons.  Oakes charts the course by which Douglass and Lincoln, initially far apart on the antislavery spectrum, gravitated toward each other… Douglass’s views on race were essentially modern; the book is really a study through his eyes of the more complex figure of Lincoln.”


Listen to Episode 10: AntiSlaveryMovement

Civil War Podcast, Episode 9

In which we take a look at some pro-slavery arguments (which we don’t endorse in any way, shape, or form) to see why Seward’s “Higher Law” speech in March 1850 made southerners so very angry.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of the Civil War by Bruce Levine. “Half Slave and Half Free is a succinct and persuasive treatment of the basic issues that precipitated the Civil War. Now, in a revised edition that includes a new preface and afterword and a revised and expanded bibliographic essay, Bruce Levine’s impressive work is brought completely up to date. Its argument is still compelling: that a popular basis for the Civil War developed out of the far-reaching and divisive changes in American life that came with the incomplete Revolution of 1776… changes that led to two very distinct social systems, one based on slavery, the other on free labor, which eventually made sectional differences within the framework of the Union irreconcilable.”


Listen to Episode 9: ProSlaveryArguments

Civil War Podcast, Episode 8

In which we look at the Presidential Election of 1848 (Zachary Taylor wins!), the crisis over California’s admission to the Union as a free state (which nearly led to disunion & civil war), and how Henry Clay stepped into the breach and laid the groundwork that allowed Stephen A. Douglas to save the day with the Compromise of 1850.

Our book recommendation for this episode is At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise that Saved the Union by Robert V. Remini.  “In 1850, America hovered on the brink of disunion. Tensions between slaveholders and abolitionists mounted, as the debate over slavery grew rancorous. The addition of vast new territory in the wake of the Mexican war prompted Northern politicians to demand that new states remain free; in response, Southerners baldly threatened to secede from the Union. Only Henry Clay, America’s Great Compromiser, could keep the union together.”


Listen to Episode 8: Compromise1848

Civil War Podcast, Episode 6

Battle of Buena Vista
February 23, 1847

WAR WITH MEXICO (Part the Second)


Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)

In which we continue our discussion of America’s war with Mexico.  We cover the military action out west in California & New Mexico, then we talk about a different kind of battle that raged in Congress over something called the Wilmot Proviso.  Finally, we head back down to the Rio Grande and follow along as Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey & then wins the hard-fought Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847.

Zachary Taylor on Old Whitey
at Buena Vista.

 

Our book recommendation for this episode is A Country of Vast Designs: James K Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent by Robert W Merry.  About this NY Times Bestseller, Publishers Weekly said: “Using a broad spectrum of published and archival sources, Merry depicts Polk as an unabashed expansionist.  His political career was devoted to expanding American power across the continent.  Polk saw the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny as transcending even the festering issue of slavery… Merry makes a strong case that Polk’s America embraced a sweeping vision of national destiny that he fulfilled.  Merry’s conclusion that history turns not on morality but on power, energy and will may be uncomfortable, but he successfully illustrates it.”


Listen to Episode 6: MexicanWarPartSecond

Civil War Podcast, Episode 2


In which we take a look back to see why slavery was such a thorny issue and how it played a major role in shaping & defining the early American political landscape.

We have two book recommendations for this episode. The first is What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe.  This hefty tome won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in History, but it’s probably more for the serious-minded student of history, so…

For those of you not wishing to jump right into the deep end of the pool, we’re also recommending another Pulitzer Prize-winning history book.  It’s Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James McPherson.  This book provides a comprehensive narrative of the period, but is a bit more accessible to the general reader.


Listen to Episode 2: SlaveryAndPolitics