From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"Gary Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia, discusses the different Civil War narratives that emerged in the popular consciousness in the century after the war. From the 'Lost Cause' rhetoric of the defeated Confederacy, in which an unapologetic South found honor in defeat, to the 'Emancipation Cause' advanced by the Union, which held that the North went to war in order to liberate slaves, Gallagher explains that these narratives drew both on fact and myth and were critical in the formation of regional and national American identity."

The Atlantic slave trade was abolished in 1808; but for 100 years before that a surprising number of writers denounced slavery in their creative works. Drawing on his recent book Amazing Grace, Professor Basker reveals how early, and how vehemently, poets shaped Anglo-American attitudes toward slavery. The anti-slavery poets range from famous figures like Pope, Wheatley, Wordsworth, and Coleridge, to long-forgotten women, former slaves, and others recovered from the oblivion of historical neglect.

From Colonial Williamsburg: Past and Present Podcasts

"Slavery gains a foothold in the American colonies as early as 1619. In the years that follow, laws and resistance grow around the institution with equal determination. Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander discusses slavery's early path."

A short video (or "vodcast") accompanies this podcast, and can be accessed here.

From the Colonial Williamsburg website:

"What did the founders really intend for our democracy? Political Science Professor Quentin Kidd talks about how the government was built and how Americans have adapted it."

Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews historian Cary Carson, former Research Vice President. In the podcast, Carson describes how she helped develop programs to integrate African-American history into the preexisting historical narratives offered at Colonial Williamsburg.

To learn more about African-Americans and the institution of slavery in Colonial Williamsburg, visit Williamsburg's African American Experience page.

Colonial Williamsburg author Mike Olmert discusses the significance and preservation of colonial-era outbuildings, which included structures such as kitchens, laundries, dairies, privies, smokehouses, offices, dovecotes, and icehouses. Olmert focuses on the window onto social norms and expectations and onto indentured and enslaved life that these structures reveal.

To listen to this feature, select "All 2009 podcasts," and scroll to the July 27th program.

Colonial Williamsburg manager of African American programs, Tricia Brooks, discusses the primary sources used in exploring colonial viewpoints on slavery and race in Williamsburg programming.

Click here to discover more about the African-American colonial experience.