In this closing discussion from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium, several of the symposium’s presenters take questions from the audience and offer their closing thoughts on the day’s topics, including the role of Congress during the war. They also discuss the end of the war and its immediate aftermath. Albany Law School professor Paul Finkelman moderates.

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Two historians talk about the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1862 and 1864, which involved some of the fiercest fighting of the War. This is the fourth in a series of sessions from a conference organized by the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. The theme of this year’s gathering was Leadership and Generalship in the Civil War. The Virginia Military Institute hosted the conference.

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University of Virginia history professor Gary Gallagher talks about the Seven Days’ Battles, a series of conflicts fought during the last week of June 1862. In those battles, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee thwarted George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac in the Union attempt to take the Confederate capital of Richmond. Professor Gallagher argues that, in many ways, the Seven Days’ Battles were more of a turning point in the Civil War than was the Battle of Gettysburg a year later. The Virginia Historical Society hosted this event.

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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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Arizona State University history professor Brooks Simpson talks about the Lieutenant General Act of 1864. The act made Ulysses S. Grant a lieutenant general and gave him command of the Union Army. Professor Simpson spoke at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium.
 

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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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History professor Gary Gallagher speaks about the importance of studying military history in the last of a series of sessions from a conference organized by the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. The theme of this year’s gathering was Leadership and Generalship in the Civil War. The Virginia Military Institute hosted the conference.

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Two speakers make presentations at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium. First, author Fergus Bordewich talks about the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, the Congressional panel created to monitor Northern military affairs. Then, economics professor Jenny Bourne talks about how the war was financed.

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The New-York Historical Society hosts this discussion with historians Harold Holzer, James McPherson, and William Davis, who talk about Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as opposing Civil War commanders-in-chief.

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Two historians discuss the generalship of Ulysses S. Grant. They focus on Grant’s efforts in leading the Union Army of the Potomac against Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, and talk about how other officials admired and praised Grant’s abilities. This is the third in a series of sessions from a conference organized by the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. The theme of this year’s gathering was Leadership and Generalship in the Civil War. The Virginia Military Institute hosted the conference.

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