Professor Charles Postel reviews the lives of lawyers Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) and William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) and their involvement as adversaries in the 1925 legal case Scopes v. State, in which a school teacher was found guilty of violating a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools.

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Professor Michael Nelson discusses Abraham Lincoln and religion.

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Professor Lucas E. Morel reviews the life and views of Martin Luther King, Jr., examining his views of race relations, his religious beliefs, and his definition of civil disobedience, as suggested in his writings and speeches.

Professor David Tucker looks at the views of religion, government, and the ideal American citizen and way of life presented in early 20th-century writing and contrasts them with the views on the same subjects held by the Founding Fathers. He uses writing by the authors Flannery O'Connor (1925–1964), Herbert Croly (1869–1930), and Howard W. Kellog.

Professor Christopher Flannery looks at the autobiography of novelist, journalist, historian, and academic Henry Adams (1838–1918). Flannery focuses on what it says about the "American character" and how Adams saw it changing at the turn of the century.

Professor David Foster analyzes Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, looking at what the novel, its characters, and the life of its author reveal about the "American character" and views of American ideals and life at the time of its writing. This lecture continues from the lecture "Mark Twain and the American Character, Part One."

Professor David Foster analyzes Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, looking at what the novel, its characters, and the life of its author reveal about the "American character" and views of American ideals and life at the time of its writing.