Julie Roy Jeffrey of Goucher College discusses the effect of the Second Great Awakening on young people and women and the drive to enact social reforms it encouraged.

To view this clip, select "The Second Great Awakening and Antebellum Social Reform" under "Religion and Culture Video."

John Mack Faragher of Yale University discusses the significance of religion to antebellum settlers in Illinois. He looks at the diversity of sects represented and the importance of religion in community-forming.

To view this clip, select "Religion on the Illinois Frontier" under "Religion and Culture Video."

Michael F. Holt of the University of Virginia looks at the development of a second two-party political system in antebellum U.S. and the role the system played in balancing and unifying the nation. Holt also looks at the dissolution of this second system through loss of public faith in the Democratic and Whig parties as they stood and in the development of the Republican and Know Nothing parties in response to new social forces (such as immigration and the rise of Roman Catholicism).

To view this clip, select "The Second Party System in American Politics" under "Political Development Video."

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia looks at Northern and Southern responses to John Brown's Raid and John Brown's execution, focusing on the regional differences the responses brought to the fore and media manipulation of these responses.

To view this clip, select "John Brown's Raid and the American Sectional Crisis" under "Political Development Video."

Gerald Prokopowicz of the Lincoln Museum very briefly describes the role of politics as entertainment in the antebellum U.S.

To view this clip, select "Antebellum Politics as Popular Entertainment" under "Political Development Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University describes the role of politics in antebellum U.S. culture, focusing on its role as popular culture and entertainment.

To view this clip, select "19th-Century American Political Culture" under "Political Development Video."

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton looks at the differing perceptions of women and family life held by antebellum political parties and the tensions this led to that may have contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.

To view this clip, select "Women and Political Activity in the Antebellum Whig Party" under "Political Development Video."

Scholar James Lewis contrasts antebellum Midwestern settlers' concepts of orderly land division and ownership with Native American borderless and communal concepts of land use.

To view this clip, select "Settlement of the Northwest Territory" under "Native American Relations Video."

John Mack Faragher of Yale University discusses the range of relationships between Native Americans (particularly the Kickapoo) and settlers in antebellum Illinois. He looks at the development from relatively benign relations, involving the trading of goods and ideas, to the rise of racism and violence following the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War.

To view this clip, select "Settlers and Native Americans Before the Black Hawk War" under "Native American Relations Video."