Each week, American History TV sits in on a lecture with one of the country’s college professors. Amy Murrell Taylor teaches at the University of Albany, State University of New York, and this class explores the questions of slave emancipation during the Civil War, leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation.

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On January 1st, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Recently, Howard University in Washington, DC held a forum of historians discussing Lincoln, his Emancipation decision, and the impact on the country.
 

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History Professor Chandra Manning looks at the Emancipation Proclamation and the escalation of the Civil War. Professor Manning also examines the role that black soldiers played in the Union victory. The class took place at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

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History professor Roger Davidson discusses emancipation and U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. Professor Davidson explains how African Americans used the disorder caused by the Civil War to escape enslavement. He also details how former slaves offered their services to Union forces to help bring about the end of slavery. This class took place at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

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In this discussion from the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College, history professors and bloggers talk about the debates and controversies of emancipation – its timing, its initial results, and its post-war effects into the 20th century.

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History professor Caroline Janney addresses how slavery and emancipation played into the process of post-war reconciliation. She also discusses the experiences and memories of Northern and Southern veterans in the war’s aftermath. Ms. Janney spoke at the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College.

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Historians discuss the circumstances, outcomes, and ongoing considerations of emancipation. They first place President Lincoln’s September 1862 issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the context of the War, then broaden out to discuss how Americans think and talk about emancipation and its echoes today. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History hosted this event.

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This June marks the 50th Anniversary of two of President John F. Kennedy’s most memorable speeches. On June 10th 1963, JFK delivered the commencement address at American University known as his “Peace Speech.” He called for high-level negotiations with the Soviet Union, a nuclear test ban treaty and an end to the Cold War.  On June 26th 1963, President Kennedy took a harder line in West Berlin, famously stating that as a free man he took pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner.” This is a discussion from the Kennedy Presidential Library about the significance and lasting influence of these two addresses.

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