Civil War Times Reviews: Lincoln’s Antagonists
Radicals in Congress—Black Republicans and a belligerent Copperhead—played a central role in prosecuting the war and impeaching Andrew Johnson
Abolitionist Brooklyn: A Sanctuary City Before Its Time
Separated from Southern-sympathizing Manhattan, Brooklyn had one of the largest and most politically aware Black communities in the U.S.
America’s Civil War Reviews: Close Quarters, Profound Trauma
The effects of imprisonment on the senses scarred prisoners for the rest of their lives
Vicksburg: Where Grant Learned How to Win the War
An little-discussed factor was the social revolution that preceded Vicksburg's surrender—the destruction of the plantation oligarchy and the liberation of 100,000 slaves
How Politics Affect The Way We Teach the Past
Textbooks in Blue California explain history one way while red Texas takes an opposite tack
Insight: How Hollywood Portrays Lincoln and His Commitment to Emancipation
Films from 2012 are relevant to continuing conceptions of the Civil War
Interview with Edward L. Ayers, Civil War Historian
Ayers argues that America should acknowledge the importance of emancipation with a national holiday.
A Virginia Slave Schooled in Scotland Made a Bravehearted Bid for His Freedom
Jamie Montgomery failed, but his case set a precedent that ended chattel bondage in Scotland 12 years later
Zephaniah Kingsley: Champion of Free Blacks
Roving merchant and slave trader approved of bondage system but saw freedmen as linchpin
Online Exclusive: Scruffy Florida Seafarers Made Their Fortunes Salvaging Shipwrecks
Long before it became Margaritaville, Key West was a boom town built on bad news
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Is a Speech for the Ages
With malice toward none, with charity toward all, the president seeks to binds the wounds of the nation
American History Reviews: The King of Tin Pan Alley
Composer's greatest gift was an ear for the simple and the sweet
How Southerners Became Sympathetic to Suicide
Self-destruction is seen as heroic instead of an act of cowardice
Explore Life Along the Levee
New Orlean, the Confederacy's largest and most commercially important city, fell to the Union in May 1862
