Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia examines the distribution of bank paper by banks in the antebellum U.S. frontier lands and the legal problems that arose when banks issued more notes than they were able to pay.

To view this clip, select "Banks in Antebellum Illinois" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia discusses the use of promissory-note and bill-of-exchange systems in antebellum U.S. frontier lands and the legal complexities of ensuring that such bills would be paid as promised.

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia gives an example of the complexities of land law in the antebellum U.S., using the case Brunson v. Kedzie to demonstrate the interplay and contradiction of state and federal laws.

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia offers an overview of the laws pertaining to mortgages and sale of land in the antebellum frontier areas.

To view this clip, select "Commercial Law and the Settlement of the Frontier" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia overviews the federal land law covering division, sale, rights to, and distribution of new lands and resources in the antebellum West and Midwest.

To view this clip, select "Public Land Law and the Settlement of the Frontier" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia discusses the movement of religions, ways of life, racial attitudes, and other cultural aspects into frontier areas. Ayers focuses specifically on the movement of race-related concepts into Illinois, including a general resistance to slaveholding and a general unfriendliness to free blacks. He also mentions how politicians, such as Abraham Lincoln, had to take care to tailor their political messages for particular regions.

To listen to this lecture, select "Southerners on the Frontier," and scroll to "African-American Experience Videos."

Eric Foner of Columbia University examines the effect of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court decision on the state of antebellum U.S. politics, focusing particularly on the divisive effects it had within the Democratic party.

To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision and National Politics" under "African-American Experience Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University outlines the results of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court case, which institutionalized the exclusion of African Americans from citizenship, and Republican denunciation of the Court's decision (including Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the ruling).

To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision of 1857" under "African-American Experience Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University very briefly discusses the racism that characterized the antebellum American West, and its possible origins.

To view this clip, select "Frontier Settlement and the Vision of an All-White Society" under "African-American Experience Video."

James O. Horton of George Washington University describes the Kansas-Nebraska Act and reactions to it, including the fear that the spread of slavery into the territories would take labor and land-owning opportunities away from free workers.

To view this clip, select "Abraham Lincoln and the Kansas-Nebraska Act" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."