Im in House Counsel here at the constitutioner in and about to treat you to an exciting i want to give a quicking bug for some of our upcoming programs. Next week we will welcome former white house advisor for discussion on one with of the more widely misunderstood constitutional prakses impeachment u new biography on michigan senator arthur vangdenburg and later this month well have the Atlantic Franklin four for a tuck on his new book World Without mind the threat of big tech, and leading thinkers including jacob of the National Interest and sam of the knock times for conversation of the future of american conservatism and members receive free tickets to Town Hall Program and discounted to blockbuster evening programs and our continuing Legal Education credit offering. And for more information on membership or on Upcoming Schedule check out the membership table outside in the lobby own now to introduce our guest speaker a leading civil war historian is tucker boat right professor at the university of richmond where hes president , he was awarded National Humanity medal in 2013 by president barack obama and is countrily serving as president of the organization of american historians for the 20107, 2018 term. He joins us today to discuss his latest book the thin light of freedom civil war emancipation in heart of america on sale in our museum store join me in welcoming ed arrest. [applause] so ed thank you for being here to discuss this great new book. My pleasure. So book came out of a digital archive valley of a shadow can you tell us a little bit about this project and how it led you to writing your previous bock in the rinse of my enemy and this book we thought this in up 1991 and those of you who web with worldwide web didnt exist then but the idea was wouldnt it be great if we could share every piece of evidence of every person who lived in two communities in pennsylvania, chambersburg, and in virginia stanton. And what instead of history being something that just presents it as a done deal, to students and to people who like to read history we could share the actual evidentiary record but that seemed like a great idea and tooing us 14 years are to do that because it turns out there is enormous amount of material about 19th Century America so every letter, die rir, newspaper article since this entry military record church record, tax record freedom bower row record all of those kinds of things but the idea was that i wouldnt be able l to see all of that evidence. That people could explore for themselves but you can see basically every source that i use for this book for yourself and see just how exactly u how wrong i was. Its been used many millions of times all around the World Teachers used it for people to get a sense of where history comes from. Its not just that we make up stuff or our opinion but based on evidence. I have to admit i often my mom a fifth grade teacher what graduate school in history and what for honey we already know what happened. [laughter] and ever since then ive been trying to show her no we dont. It is actually a lot more complicated than you think. So we the valley created the opportunity to write presence by enemies in 2003, then it became a dean condition and then i became a president a enall of this this time valley of a shadow waiting for me to come back and then last year i was able to spend a year exploring again beautiful thing is it still works, and so i hope youll explore valley of the shadow. Great. And so this book focuses on two counties us in frank lean county sort of a broadcast of characters and can you tell us who are some your favorite characters in this . It is better to be lucky than smart. And so turns out that after i chose two places because i knew they were central isly involved in the war we discovered remarkable records about people and turns out we have only parallel die diary of a husband and wife from Franklin County rachel and samuel who reads book falls in love with them. Theyre entirely appealing people who from canada come back to pennsylvania to help save the United States. And so samuel is 17th cavalry rachel at home with baby corp. Corp. With a watching as big events sweep over invasion of pennsylvania that comes the battle the gettysburg and able to follow them on home front and battle field throughout every step of the war so im a big fan. Also theres a guy it joseph less of a diary a newspaper man who sees everything with eyes a reporter but turns outs bad eyes he cant fight and with ten woman wife and sister and other people including enslaved poem and writes down every day what had it looks like from his hes kind of skeptical he was before the war that he has doubt about slavery admits that she has doubts about confederacy yet a defend so to see behind scenes as in other thing that i felt was so lucky for the value of the shadow and thus this book contains largest single clx of letters letter africanamerican soldier who is fought the troops, and they were misfiled in the county next door for charles widow of the man who is won to characters and who is stfer all of the others she reare married after war after a he dies from wounds from fort wagner and filed with her second husband in the next county over. New york times did a story about valley of the shadow back in 1999 this professor read that you would never find it. But you wont believe how great these letters are. So we have yall remember story of r glory, these men are with that unit at every step from drilling in boston all the way up through marching back through streets of boston after a the war. So i love afl those people. But sometimes people make kanyia they have one with quote or they appear just a fleeting instance. Theres one that i like i dont know her name. Union officer is in the Shannon Valley and notices 75yearold woman who is marching along with the union army termed not to be left behind and he says shes walking for freedom i suppose. So theres literally hundreds of people in there, and it was hard choosing just switch vignette chawrp them so unfair question but well stop request that. [laughter] so in the book you discuss gettysburg. And 50,000 men from both sides were killed, and so is this really turning point in the war and also i was wonder if you would like to talk about story of john who is another character in the book and his retreat with wounded from gettyburg. Well it seems a little insensitive to come from pennsylvania to virginia so say that it was not turning point of the war but you know im doing that. [laughter] you know, we look back on it and it seems that it was pivot of the war. And both the white and north south agree that it the pivot of the war because it ended up being exactly in the middle it turns out but what that reminds us is many men dieded after gettysburg as died before that war is certainly not determined by gettysburg even its coincidence with digs bug so book in general is telling to forgive whatever you know about the war put yourself in is the shoes of the people who are living it at the time. And you will realize that there are so many turning points, and that one thing i point out is that the war wases impossible. The civil war could not have happened. The things that happened in civil war were so deeply unlikely. So gettysburg is very important theres a reason that volume one ends with gettyburg and volume two so double your gettysburg for the set. It is dramatically important. But in some ways it is ornght for what didnt happen. And this book begins lee cool off big victory at vicktorville and he wants to demonstrate to north that they cannot believe that Abraham Lincoln that he can not predict to protect them that they can just walk right in to pennsylvania this beautifully rich area, and theres nothing that army can do to stop them. Hes also he writes his wife lee does and he says what i want to do is affect the election of next year so everything that is political is also military. And vice versa. So what could have happened and what lee expected to happen is that they would be able to stay in pennsylvania for a long time. Resupply their very hungry horses and men, ship massive amount as of the bounty of pennsylvania back into virginia. And maybe make it all the way to philadelphia maybe make it to harrisburg is what they think theyre going to be able to do. They did not plan on being able to stay a short time to be driven away. So if you consider what had might have happened and be consequence withs of that and didnt happen, gettysburg is turning point if you consider what had wail did happen, there was much hard fighting and much still up in the air after gettysburg. Uhhuh. So you discuss the election of 1864. Which you described as the most critical in our history. And so can can you talk a little bit about what were some of the issues in the election, and why was election so critical and maybe just a little bit about the platforms of the republicans and democrats . I can. So what i argue is that the Pivotal Moment in the civil war was election the 1864 and many things were facing that and they adopt the United States constitution almost in hole changing just a couple of things one a frank acknowledgement of slavery rather than people held about service, and extending term of the president of six years. And so Jefferson Davis never has to come up for reelection but as soon as lincoln is elected this 1860 he knows that hes going to come up again 1864 and a lot of the war is is pivots around that knowledge. Hes what you need to remember, after a gettysburg, after the gettysburg address, after vicksburg, lee does not think in the fall 1864 that hes going to be reelected. Okay. Lincoln in the fall of 1864 does not think hes going to be reare elected. And the war is going to badly especially in virginia sherman is still bottled up in border of tennessee and embay that that United States is demanded so much of its people and yet cannot seem to defeat this enemy that they outnumber and have so much more material than they do. And so democrats are vicious against lincoln. I think it is people and people read this book i know all of you will its a holiday gift whatever holiday you may have [laughter] but you will see that they are seeing things harder about Abraham Lincoln what you can imagine it is on his bloody hands that rest of death of your sons things like that that are very powerful so the democrats are a tough position because they dont want to pull against the United States. But they dont want to go too well because lincoln will be reelected so they are on a platform that says what we should be for is peace. How many of your sons are you willing to give and do you really want to sew the slaves freeded and do you really want them to flood into places papa . Do you really want that because thats not what we went to war for we went to war to save the United States. And this Republican Party has turned it per verted it into an antislavery war is what in thes are saying hes remarkable thing. Its very close the democrats have their convention in chicago, theyre feeling great and when they get back home sherman is taken atlanta like you know, that cut whole argument that war is being lost and theyre going to have to negotiate with the confederates. Democrats dont say much about the future of slavery, and slavery has been deeply disrupted where United States army goes but we have to remember as late as this, 3 million of the enslave people of the south have never come within touch of the union army. Okay. That the south size of the Continental Europe and the United States without all of the paraphernalia that we have today cannot penetrate a lot of those places so its not clear what had the future of slavery might be. So after sherman talls things look a lot better. But pennsylvania still hangs in the balance. And lincoln says if i wases pennsylvania, i might lose everything. The two largest States New York and pennsylvania new york is going to go with the democrats and pennsylvania could go to the republicans. So i dont to ruin this story. Tell you how it turns out but i would say this. Lincoln persuades almost nobody from the democrats to vote for him in 1864 they have in 1860 nearly 48 of white northern men will not o vote in 1864. Isnt that amazing been imreats National Crisis with our greatest president or for the greatest purpose that democrats will vote for george in the ends of the war. 80,000 votes in krit corral areas not elected Abraham Lincoln so number that we may have heard in recent elections about the same percentage we understand now, but the retrocollege did what it was supposed to do to give lincoln a great mandate and so coming out of the election theres no question that all of the things republicans are pursuing but what we need to remember all through reconstruction that nearly half of what northern men havent changeed their mind but theres a crucial part of the story that we usual lily leave out so eager to cheer on grant and lee, and not lee lincoln to see great outco. War that we know and we forget how many resisted to every step of the way. Did i get all of the clauses . Yes, and so kind of relating to that since you know lincoln won this huge mandate but necessarily didnt have all popular support, he started to believe that a constitutional amendment wases necessary 13th amendment. So can can you talk a little bit about what they can do . I can. I have reason to believe people might be interested in the constitution so lets talk about that. So election says it was first popular referendum on emancipation and it is because everything that had happened to end slavery before then had been done by lincoln himself as comangder in chief emancipation proclamation more importantly so he realizes that if mclellan wins in many future or courts challenge his authority to have ended slavery if theres a different lineup on courts or if congress that it is imperialed. So you both remember that Great Lincoln movie and why are we seeing this after the war is almost over, and were seeing lincoln politicking thats because what has to happen if they dont get the 1th amendment passed before the war ends, these things are in jeopardy and needs to be solidified but they have a Lame Duck Congress and persuade democrats unelected but be there to side with the 13th amendment. So again, i throw in the story, hay do, and hes able to get it through narrowly, so people dont often realize that the 13th amendment comes before the end of the civil war, and it has to or everything is imperialed. So the north is excited about victory and johnson becomes president not long after, and so johnson president what is the effect on reconstruction to past, but lincoln doesnt leave very specific instructions for what his vision for reconstruction would offend. Thank you for all of the easy questions i would say on that that lees last public address i keep saying lee. Lincoln last public address is about reconstruction. And this is not a direct quote that it is Something Like this. Ill get back to you on the details. [laughter] but i will have more to say about this at some future date and tragically it does not. But lincoln does not play out a plan for reconstruction expect try to put the country back together as quickly as he can. He had a plan 10 of the population would declare loyalty of the United States and come back to the country they could. So Andrew Johnson believes that he is following lincolns plan which is to help restore the country. Now i want to be honest with you, i went to Andrew JohnsonElementary School in east tennessee i think theres only two in the country. One 35 miles away where he was from and for some reason in the town where i grew up, and but what and hes just universally despised but what we need to remember is upon lincoln desk democrat and republicans said thank goodness we have Andrew Johnson he was great hero only white southern smart who refused not to go to the confederacy and then been great peril wartime governor of tennessee, and so had been, obviously, lincoln eying running mate to republicans had had reason to think this is what were looking for guy who understands white south. But is committed to union and success but johnson unlike lincoln really did not value freedom of the enslaved poem and he was willing to sacrifice them and their rights for the quickest reunification of the country that he could come up with and in his mind what that meant was that you had almost all white men in the south support the confederacy. Even though theyve been for union before the war often so and massive conversion to the confederacy if we dont have those men including those who fought against the United States, being the back into power theres not going to be a base for a new Republican Party. So were going to have to reach out to the goods men of the south. I will pardon them and i take them at their word that they have knowledged that they have lost, the slavery is over and will not be permitted and theyre back in congress and republicans say these are men who were killing us just month ago and now you have them back determining our fundamental u law what becomes the fundamental issue is what will be done with the former confederate . What are the consequences of rising up in rebellion against the United States . Whatever the pretax issue that you may have had that tfsz your right as a state or whatever the fact is is that this has been what republicans call a rebellion. They should be punished they should not only hold office. They should not vote so fundamental are constitutional Social Security