How did Gettysburg become the most famous battle of the American Civil War and one of the most consequential in world history? Why is it the most visited American battlefield, the place where veterans came in the greatest numbers, where Presidents pay homage, and millions of families have vacationed? What was it about this three-day struggle in July 1863 that made it seem like the “turning point of the war,” or the “high-water mark” of the Confederate rebellion? Join Dr. Adam I.P. Smith for a look at the famous battle and its importance.
Adam I. P. Smith read History at the University of Oxford before going on to do postgraduate work at Sheffield, Cambridge, and Harvard Universities. He taught at University College London before being appointed Edward Orsborn Professor of U.S. Politics and Political History at Oxford. His previous books have included “The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics” (2017).
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Was it April 9, at Appomattox, where Lee surrendered to Grant in Wilmer McLean’s parlor? Or was it ten weeks afterward, in Galveston, where a federal commander proclaimed Juneteenth the end of slavery? Or perhaps in August of 1866, when President Andrew Johnson simply declared “the insurrection is at an end”? Hear from acclaimed historian Michael Vorenberg about the struggle for peace and emancipation in the wake of the Civil War.
Michael Vorenberg received his PhD at Harvard University and now teaches at Brown University. He is the author of “Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment,” which was a finalist for the Lincoln Prize and was used as the basis for the screenplay of Stephen Spielberg’s 2012 film, “Lincoln.”
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For the doomed stand American forces made in the Philippines at the start of World War II, two generals received their country’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. One was the controversial Douglas MacArthur, whose orders forced him to leave his Soldiers on the islands to starvation and surrender. The other was the gritty Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, who became a hero to the troops whose fate he insisted on sharing, even when it meant becoming the highest-ranking American prisoner of the Japanese. Join Jonathan Horn to learn the incredible story of these two generals and their Soldiers in the Philippines.
Jonathan Horn is an author and former White House presidential speechwriter whose books include “Washington’s End” and “The Man Who Would Not Be Washington.” He has written for outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times Disunion series, and has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS NewsHour.
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