Scholar James Lewis contrasts the early French fur traders' cooperation and cultural exchange with Illinois's Native Americans with the exclusionary policies of U.S. settlers following the American Revolution.

To view this clip, select "Native Americans and the French Empire in the Illinois Country" under "Native American Relations Video."

Scholar James Lewis briefly examines the repeated "war scares"—fears of possible outbreaks of violence between settlers and Native Americans—that troubled Illinois up until the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832.

To view this clip, select "Native Americans and War Scares on the Frontier" under "Native American Relations 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."

Michael F. Holt of the University of Virginia discusses the struggle to resolve disputes over territory acquired during the Mexican-American War, particularly the dispute over how (and whether) slavery should spread into the new territories.

To view this clip, select "Origins of the Compromise of 1850" under "Frontier Settlement Video."

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia looks at the early antebellum support of African colonization as an answer to U.S. racial tensions, and considers it as a possible root of the later abolitionist movement.

To listen to this lecture, select "The Movement of African-American Colonization" under "African-American Experience Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University looks at antebellum consideration of African colonization as a means to deal with race tensions, focusing on the opposition of most free African Americans to the proposition.

Produced by Jeffrey Chown of the Northern Illinois University Department of Communication, this documentary chronicles the Black Hawk War of 1832, looking also at the events that led up to it and its repercussions. It focuses on the roles of Sauk war chief Black Hawk and a young Abraham Lincoln. The documentary is divided into 18 short downloadable videos.

To view this documentary, scroll to the set of 18 links separated from the main Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video selections, and choose a section to view.

Eric Foner of Columbia University discusses Abraham Lincoln's preference, pre-Civil War, for the establishment of African colonies as a solution to race tensions in the U.S.; and looks at his movement away from this solution during the Civil War.

To view this clip, select "Abraham Lincoln and the Problem of Race and Slavery" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."

James O. Horton of George Washington University discusses Abraham Lincoln's consideration of establishing African colonies as a solution to race tensions in the U.S. and African-American reactions to suggestions of the establishment of such colonies.

To listen to this clip, select "Abraham Lincoln and the African-American Colonization Movement" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."