Dr. James McPherson, professor emeritus of American History at Princeton University, won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, which has since sold more than six hundred thousand copies. His success with Battle Cry of Freedom and other Civil War publications are considered to have paved the way for the success of the films Glory and Gettysburg and the television documentary The Civil War by Ken Burns. In April 2011 McPherson presented lecture Inheriting the Wind: American Youth at the Onset of Battle in Charleston, SC. He joins Dr. Edgar for a discussion of the Civil War in this 150th year anniversary of its beginning.
Dr. Mark Smith is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of History in USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He is also a leading expert on “sensory history.” He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the about the sensory history of Gettysburg and other battles.
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Dr. James McPherson discusses the reasons and motivations behind what made common soldiers ("Billy Yank" and "Johnny Reb") go fight in the Civil War.
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In this segment, Dr. McPherson details the impact of President Abraham Lincoln’s election victory on the South, before the Civil War. Lincoln's victory is seen as one of the key motivations the South...
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Walter Edgar talks with Dr. McPherson about the increase in Civil War writings within the past thirty years. Writers have since expanded on aspects like civilian life, experiences for common soldiers...
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One of the new fields in Civil War history is what is known as “sensory history:” what people experienced, thought, smelled, tasted, heard, etc. Dr. James McPherson and Dr. Mark Smith discuss these...
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In this segment, Dr. Mark Smith discusses tastes, and what people typically ate during the Civil War. He uses Vicksburg, and foods, as examples to illustrate this aspect of sensory history.
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What must it have been like to be a crew member on board the C.S.S. Hunley? Dr. Mark Smith opines.
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Dr. Mark Smith analyzes auditory experiences during the Secession Convention, and the sounds and voices in Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War.
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Dr. James McPherson, professor emeritus of American History at Princeton University, won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, which has since sold more than six hundred thousand copies...