Eric Foner of Columbia University describes the role of politics in antebellum U.S. culture, focusing on its role as popular culture and entertainment.

To view this clip, select "19th-Century American Political Culture" under "Political Development Video."

Scholar James Lewis outlines Andrew Jackson's views of Native Americans and his discounting of Native American power and the validity of treaties signed with Native American tribes.

To view this clip, select "Andrew Jackson and Federal Indian Policy" under "Native American Relations Video."

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia contrasts the emphasis of the antebellum Whig party on public interest with the Democratic party's emphasis on individual rights.

To view this clip, select "Whig Political Ideas" 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 discusses the implementation of the Fugitive Slave Law and Northern reactions to it. He also considers the contradiction between Southern support of the Fugitive Slave Law and of state rights, as well as Abraham Lincoln's own political (if not personal) support of the Fugitive Slave Law.

To view this clip, select "Fugitive Slaves and the Compromise of 1850" under "African-American Experience Video."

James O. Horton of George Washington University contrasts the Eastern radical abolitionist views of slavery, epitomized by those of William Lloyd Garrison, with the more conservative views on race relations held in Illinois—from which Abraham Lincoln developed his own views.

To listen to this clip, select "Abolitionism in Antebellum Illinois" under "African-American Experience Video."

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.

Gerald Prokopowicz of the Lincoln Museum examines Lincoln's development of a political language balanced between formal oratory and direct speech.

To view this clip, scroll to "Lincoln's Political Rhetoric and the Growth of American Democracy" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."

Gerald Prokopowicz of the Lincoln Museum very briefly looks at Abraham Lincoln's association with the Whig party and his reasons for choosing it, as a believer in free labor.

To view this clip, scroll to "Lincoln the Whig" under "Abraham Lincoln's Biography Video."