“Civil War Stories” is a collaboration between Slate and “The Memory Palace,” DiMeo’s long-running podcast that unearths forgotten historical gems. The series will appear monthly during the sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War.
Some really cool radio shorts. Fascinating!
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In the second episode of our monthly audio series “Civil War Stories,” radio producer Nate DiMeo tells the story of Richmond resident Elizabeth Van Lew, better known as Crazy Bet. Her odd behavior (freeing her family’s slaves, visiting Yankee POWs in prison) made tongues wag in the Confederate capital. But Richmond society couldn’t begin to guess what was really going on:
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Among Lundberg’s criticism of Burns’ Civil War series is that, “For all its appeal, however, The Civil War is a deeply misleading and reductive film that often loses historical reality in the mists of Burns’ sentimental vision and the romance of Foote’s anecdotes. Watching the film, you might easily forget that one side was not fighting for, but against the very things that Burns claims the war so gloriously achieved. Confederates, you might need reminding after seeing it, were fighting not for the unification of the nation, but for its dissolution. Moreover, they were fighting for their independence from the United States in the name of slavery and the racial hierarchy that underlay it. Perhaps most disingenuously, the film’s cursory treatment of Reconstruction obscures the fact that the Civil War did not exactly end in April of 1865 with a few handshakes and a mutual appreciation for a war well fought. Instead, the war’s most important outcome—emancipation—produced a terrible and violent reckoning with the legacy of slavery that continued well into the 20th century.”
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In his marvelous new book, 1861: The Civil War Awakening, Adam Goodheart tries to capture what it felt like to live through secession and the opening months of the Civil War, at a time when it wasn’t clear, or destined, that the war would become the bloodiest and most important event in American history. A historian at Washington College and one of the lead authors of the New York Times’ Disunion blog, Goodheart writes especially vividly about photography, so last week I invited him to tour “The Last Full Measure,” a new Library of Congress exhibition of portrait photographs of Civil War soldiers.
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What is it about Abraham Lincoln that makes him as fascinating a figure today as he was in his lifetime? It is an interesting question to contemplate at a time when our nation is at war and our country deeply divided. What does it take to lead in such circumstances? How does a president respond to public opinion when individual opinions are so bitterly at odds? How does a leader successfully combine political skill and moral purpose?
As a defender of national unity, a leader in war, and the emancipator of slaves, Abraham Lincoln lays ample claim to being the greatest of our presidents. But the story of his rise to greatness is as complex as it is compelling. Oxford University historian Richard Carwardine examines Lincoln both in his dramatic political journey and in his nation-shaping White House years.
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In this short piece, Bruce Levine, of the University of Illinois, discusses how the Confederacy’s illogical debate over the use of Black soldiers.
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Journalists and historians are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War. Here are some noteworthy examples.
John Swansburg of Slate blogs his Civil War roadtrip with some buddies.
The New York Times Opinionator section offers some reflections.
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“Lincoln said during the Civil War that he had always seen slavery as unjust. He said he couldn’t remember when he didn’t think that way — and there’s no reason to doubt the accuracy or sincerity of that statement,” explains historian Eric Foner. “The problem arises with the next question: What do you do with slavery, given that it’s unjust? Lincoln took a very long time to try to figure out exactly what steps ought to be taken.”
Foner traces the evolution of Lincoln’s thoughts on slavery in The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. He explains how Lincoln’s changing thoughts about slavery — and the role of freed slaves — mirrored America’s own transformation.
Foner is always a splendid interview (38 minutes)
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Americans have lost their commitment to shared sacrifice. This author suggests that Americans should re-read the Gettysburg Address.
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Eric Foner, contributor and editor of Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World, lectures about the sixteenth presidents of the United States.
In 1876 the abolitionist Frederick Douglass observed, ‘No man can say anything that is new of Abraham Lincoln.’ Undeterred, the contributors to Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World believe it is possible even now, especially if the starting point is the interaction between the life and the times.
Several of these original essays focus on Lincoln’s leadership as president and commander in chief. James M. McPherson examines Lincoln’s deft navigation of the crosscurrents of politics and wartime strategy. Sean Wilentz assesses Lincoln’s evolving position in the context of party politics. On slavery and race, Eric Foner writes of Lincoln and the movement to colonize emancipated slaves outside the United States. James Oakes considers Lincoln’s views on race and citizenship. There are also essays on Lincoln’s literary style, religious beliefs, and family life. The Lincoln who emerges is a man of his time, yet able to transcend and transform it a reasonable measure of greatness.
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