Peter Carmichael looks at the military executions in General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s command. He talks about the different forms of punishment used under Jackson’s leadership in 1862, and the reactions of Confederate soldiers to these measures. Carmichael is the director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, and he spoke at the Institute’s 2012 conference.
 

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Professors and historians discuss Mark Grimsley’s 1997 book, “The Hard Hand of War,” which looks at Union military policies toward Southern civilians. "The Hard Hand of War" was the featured book of the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College.

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Historians Brooks Simpson and Mark Grimsley lead a group on a day-long tour of Antietam National Battlefield, the 1862 engagement that is considered the bloodiest single day in American history. Visiting key locations at the National Park, including the Cornfield, Sunken Lane and Burnside Bridge, the historians use the landscape and demonstrations to show what the battle was like for the armies on the ground.

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Craig Symonds of the U.S. Naval Academy talks about the war’s Western Theater river operations in 1862. Symonds details the strategies employed by the Union to win several key battles, and credits those victories to the cooperation and combined tactics of General Ulysses S. Grant and Naval Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote. The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College hosted this event.

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Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation Chair Harold Holzer talks about the photographs, prints, and political cartoons featuring two of the war’s leading generals, George B. McClellan and Robert E. Lee. He explains how the tone of those images changed over the course of the war and beyond, as dictated by each general’s successes and failures both on and off the battlefield. This talk is from the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College.

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History professor Susan Schulten discusses the causes of America's Civil War, including President Abraham Lincoln's refusal to allow slavery to expand into new territories. Professor Schulten explains that President Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy as legitimate and viewed secession as illegal. This class took place at the University of Denver.

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History bloggers discuss the role they play in the ongoing conversation about the Civil War. They explain the steps they take to ensure academic credibility and accuracy, and talk about the online interactions they have with people who read their posts. This is from the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College.

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Harvard University history professor and author Megan Kate Nelson talks about the battlefield photography and illustrations made in the wake of the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. Many of the images feature dead soldiers, and Ms. Nelson discusses the impact of those images both during the war and today. This talk is from the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College. It contains graphic content and images.

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Hari Jones, curator and assistant director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, talks about the contributions of African American Women during the War.

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Two speakers make presentations at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium. First, author Nikki Taylor addresses the issue of citizenship among free African Americans, and the story of Cincinnati’s Black Brigade. Then, history professor Diane Barnes talks about the abolition movement.

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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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A discussion on race and the role it played leading up to and during the Civil War - and how the war’s outcome and immediate aftermath have impacted racial issues ever since. Speakers include Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Yale University professor David Blight, University of Richmond President Edward Ayers, and Frank Smith, who heads the African American Civil War Memorial & Museum.  This two-hour event took place at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.

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This year the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute’s annual summer conference focused on mobilizing for war and the Battle of Bull Run.

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In the summer of 1863, riots erupted in New York City over new laws that drafted more men into the Union Army. The laws particularly impacted working class immigrants. The New-York Historical Society recently hosted a panel discussion on the draft riots and the lasting toll they had on the city.

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African Americans living in the nation’s capital were freed when Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act in April 1862, nine months before he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  Kate Masur of Northwestern University spoke about the impact of the law at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society.

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The Association for the Study of African American Life and History discussed strategies to involve African Americans in commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

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Author William Dobak discusses his book, "Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867," which examines how African American troops were used to improve Union intelligence and the varying attitudes of Union leaders towards black soldiers.

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Harvard University professor John Stauffer discusses African Americans and the Civil War.  Professor Stauffer examines Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, focusing on the president's claim that secession was unconstitutional.  He also teaches about President Lincoln’s efforts to keep the border states in the Union, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the involvement of black soldiers in both the Union and Confederate Armies.

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Historians and authors discuss ongoing legacies of the Civil War — the issues and controversies still being borne out today. Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition hosted this event.

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