15. Lincoln, Leadership, and Race: Emancipation as Policy

The Civil War and Reconstruction (HIST 119)
Professor Blight follows Robert E. Lee's army north into Maryland during the summer of 1862, an invasion that culminated in the Battle of Antietam, fought in September of 1862. In the wake of Antietam, Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a document that changed the meaning of the war forever. Professor Blight suggests some of the ways in which Americans have attempted to come to grips with the enigmatic Lincoln, and argues that, in the end, it may be Lincoln's capacity for change that was his most important characteristic. The lecture concludes with the story of John Washington, a Virginia slave whose concerted action suggests the central role American slaves played in securing their own freedom.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: Turning Points in the Civil War
07:42 - Chapter 2. Robert E. Lee's Assumptions on Moving North
15:55 - Chapter 3. The Battle of Antietam
25:07 - Chapter 4. Lincoln's Personal Views on Slavery and Historical Legacy
35:11 - Chapter 5. Slave Conscription and the Emancipation Proclamation
47:35 - Chapter 6. The Story of John Washington and Conclusion
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Spring 2008.