2004 History Lecture Series - A House Divided Against Itself: The Civil War as a Crucible of American Values

In this five-part series, Professor Tracey McKenzie integrates political, social and military history in his approach to the Civil War as a window into the values of common Americans, revealing who we were as a people in the 1860s. He examines what Americans thought about state rights, the Union, racial equality, civil liberties, and for what values the soldiers in blue and gray risked their lives.

January 14: A House Dividing
The first lecture focuses on the role of slavery in the political crisis that culminated in secession. We explore the range of constitutional and moral commitments that shaped the Northern and Southern positions by the presidential election of 1860. (1:28)

January 21: Amateurs Go to War
Professor McKenzie discusses the sectional and national values revealed in each region's response to the secession crisis, examining the way in which each region mobilized for war as a window into cultural values, focusing especially on expressed values of enlisted men, both in the North and South. (1:31)

January 28: The War Transforming
During this lecture, Professor McKenzie addresses the seminal question, "How did a war for a union only become a war for union and freedom?", stressing in particular the role and motivation of President Abraham Lincoln in redefining Northern war aims. (1:29)

February 4: The Dark Side of the War
In this lecture, we take a look at the suffering of civilians, the hardening of attitudes among enlisted men, the rise of an anti-war movement both in the North and South, and restrictions on civil liberties. (1:36)

February 11: War Concluding: Outcome and Meaning
This final lecture integrates an overview of the war's concluding year with a discussion of the conflict's larger meanings and the range of ways in which the war has been remembered by subsequent generations of Americans. (1:33)

Visit the History Lecture Series pages for more details about the series.

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