John Mack Faragher of Yale University describes the religious environment in central Illinois during Abraham Lincoln's lifetime, focusing on the importance of church involvement to communities.
To view this clip, select "Lincoln's Religious Beliefs" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."
Michael Johnson of John Hopkins University discusses Lincoln's response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, including his personal animosity towards Stephen Douglas as a possible motivating factor.
To view this clip, select "Abraham Lincoln and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."
Michael Johnson of John Hopkins University discusses Lincoln's views on race, focusing on his favoring of colonization as a solution to race tensions.
To view this clip, select "Lincoln's Ideas About Race" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."
Michael Johnson of John Hopkins University considers how Abraham Lincoln should be viewed as a historical figure, as a president, and as a man making difficult decisions.
To view this clip, select "Abraham Lincoln as Historical Figure" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."
Historian Mark P. Leone looks at the hoodoo artifacts found at the Annapolis home of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and to the coming-together of the lives of the Founding Fathers and their African and African American slaves that the artifacts represent. Leone discusses the significance of the artifacts, as the first discovery of a hoodoo cache in the area, and the later discovery of caches elsewhere dating up to the 1920s.
To view this video, select "Scholars," followed by "Mark P. Leone." Choose one of the two Windows Media options.
Cultural resources manager of the Anacostia Museum Portia James discusses Creole inventor Norbert Rillieux's invention of the vacuum evaporator, a device that increased the efficiency of water evaporation and boosted the growth of the sugar industry.
To view this lecture, select "Scholars," followed by "Portia James." Select one of the Windows Media options.
Historian Carroll Gibbs looks at the relationship of Georgetown University to the Georgetown African-American community, from the school's 1789 founding to the present day. He focuses particularly on the arrival of Patrick Healy, the first head of a U.S. university to be acknowledged as of African descent, in 1873.
To view this video, select "Scholars," followed by "Carroll Gibbs." Choose one of the Windows Media options.
Curator Richard Murray examines Emanuel Leutze's painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, looking at the mythological view of U.S. westward expansion it represents and how the painting's composition and individual elements justify Manifest Destiny.
Historian Tom Belton guides viewers through the North Carolina Museum of History exhibit "North Carolina and the Civil War." Progressing through the war chronologically, Belton describes both military and civilian life in North Carolina during the war, briefly highlighting several of the major battles in which North Carolina was involved. This presentation is divided into 31 short subchapters, which can be accessed separately.
Professor Clarence Walker discusses the origins of the institution of slavery in North America and what would become the United States. He looks back in history at different forms of slavery beyond North America and at how they differ and are similar to the North American and U.S. institution.