Tag Archives: slaves

Civil War Podcast, Episode 50

CONTRABANDS / BIG BETHEL

In which we discuss the decision to declare runaway slaves “contraband of war,” and then we look at the Battle of Big Bethel which took place on June 10, 1861.

Our book recommendation for this episode is The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner.

“While many thousands of books deal with Lincoln and slavery, Eric Foner has written the definitive account of this crucial subject, illuminating in a highly original and profound way the interactions of race, slavery, public opinion, politics, and Lincoln’s own character that led to the wholly improbable uncompensated emancipation of some four million slaves. Even seasoned historians will acquire fresh and new perspectives from reading The Fiery Trial.” ~ David Brion Davis

Big Bethel: The First Battle by John V. Quarstein

Battle of Big Bethel: Crucial Clash in Early Civil War Virginia by J. Michael Cobb, Edward B. Hicks, and Wythe Holt

Listen to Episode 50: ContrabandsBigBethel

Civil War Podcast, Episode 20

In which we discuss the importance of John Brown’s assault on the federal arsenal & armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in October 1859.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz.

“With his customary blend of rich archival research, on-location color, and lyrical prose, Tony Horwitz has delivered a John Brown book for our time. Part biography, part historical narrative, Midnight Rising is a riveting re-creation of the Harper’s Ferry raid, told with an unblinking sense of Brown’s tragic place in American history. Writing with enveloping detail and a storyteller’s verve, Horwitz shows why Brown was- and still is- so troubling and important to our culture.” ~ David W. Blight

Listen to Episode 20: JohnBrownPartFirst

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