20 min listen
Lecture 8 - Dred Scott, Bleeding Kansas, and the Impending Crisis of the Union, 1855-58
FromHIST 119: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877
Lecture 8 - Dred Scott, Bleeding Kansas, and the Impending Crisis of the Union, 1855-58
FromHIST 119: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877
ratings:
Length:
20 minutes
Released:
Aug 19, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Professor Blight continues his march through the political events of the 1850s. He continues his description of the aftermath of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, describing the guerilla war that reigned in the territory of Kansas for much of 1856. The lecture continues, describing the caning of Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the US Senate and the birth of the Republican party. The lecture concludes with the near-victory of Republican candidate John C. Fremont in the presidential election of 1856, and the passage of the Dred Scott decision in 1857. TranscriptLecture Page
Released:
Aug 19, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (27)
Lecture 1 - Introductions: Why Does the Civil War Era Have a Hold on American Historical Imagination?: Professor Blight offers an introduction to the course. He summarizes some of the course readings, and discusses the organization of the course. Professor Blight offers some thoughts on the nature of history and the study of history, before moving into a discussion of the reasons for Americans' enduring fascination with the Civil War. The reasons include: the human passion for epics, Americans' fondness for redemption narratives, the Civil War as a moment of "racial reckoning," the fascination with loss and lost causes, interest in military history, and the search for the origins of the modern United States. Transcript Lecture Page by HIST 119: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877