Civil Conversation: Decade of Disunion
The National Civil War Museum 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, PA, United StatesOn Thursday, September 12, 2024, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm, our newest Civil Conversation explores "Decade of Disunion." This discussion between NCWM CEO, Jeffrey Nichols, and author Robert W. Merry is free via ZOOM. Join us here via ZOOM: Civil War Book Talk with Robert W. Merry About the Book: Exploring a critical lesson about our nation that is as timely today as ever, Decade of Disunion shows how the country came apart during the enveloping slavery crisis of the 1850s. The Mexican War brought vast new territories to the United States, which precipitated a growing crisis over slavery. The new territories seemed unsuitable for the type of agriculture that depended on slave labor, but they lay south of the line where slavery was permitted by the 1820 Missouri Compromise. The subject of expanding slavery to the new territories became a flash point between North and South. First came the 1850 compromise legislation, which strengthened the fugitive slave law and outraged the North. Then in 1854, Congress repealed the Missouri Compromise altogether, unleashing a violent conflict in “Bleeding Kansas” over whether that territory would become free or slave. The 1857 Dred Scott decision—abrogating any rights of African Americans, enslaved or free—further […]