The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar » Visit

LINCOLN AND THE SOUTH
March 12 - 14, 2009

This conference’s proceedings will be a bit different from other conferences. We are dispensing with the traditional reading of prepared papers. After our keynote addresses, our distinguished scholars will come with a few prefatory comments based on their particular expertise but will devote most of the time to a moderated conversation with each other and you, our audience. We hope you find this technique to be a stimulating way of immersing yourself in this important era of our history. Let us know what you think!

THURSDAY, March 12

7:00 p.m.

Event Keynote: James M. McPherson on “Tried by War: Lincoln as Commander in Chief”
– Part of the Jepson Leadership Forum series on Abraham Lincoln’s Legacy of Leadership.

8:30 p.m.

book signing

FRIDAY, March 13

9 a.m.

Welcome: Christy S. Coleman, President, American Civil War Center

9:10 a.m.

Keynote: Ed L. Ayers, President, University of Richmond

9:40 a.m.

Lincoln and the South Get to Know One Another (w/break): Chair – Charles B. Dew (Williams College)

Michael Burlingame (University of Connecticut), Brian Dirck (Anderson University) and Manisha Sinha (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) discuss events leading up to the Civil War that shaped Lincoln's political philosophy and his understanding of the South.

12:00 noon

Lunch (box lunch available)

2:00 p.m.

Lincoln and the South at War (w/ break): Chair – Emory M. Thomas (University of Georgia)
William J. Cooper, Jr. (Louisiana State University), Leslie Rowland (University of Maryland) and Christopher Phillips (University of Cincinnati) explore Lincoln’s misreading of Southern resolve for secession and his management of the war.

5:30 p.m.

Reception at the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar

Exhibit tours
Book signings
Wine, beer, soft drinks and light hors d'oeures
Lincoln Statue Controversy: National Park Service
Dinner on own

SATURDAY, March 14

7:45 a.m.

Affinity Breakfast for Educators: Kevin M. Levin, Instructor of History, St. Anne’s-Belfield School
An opportunity for teachers of all levels to network and discuss effective methods of teaching Civil War history and its legacy.

9 a.m.

The Lincoln Cottage: Overview of a new historic site: Presenter—Frank Milligan, National Trust for Historic Preservation

9:30 a.m.

Lincoln in the Southern Memory (w/break): Chair – Jim McPherson (Princeton University)
David Blight (Yale University), Nina Silber (Boston University) and Fitzhugh Brundage (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) assess Lincoln’s plan for reconciliation and how Lincoln is remembered in the South.

12:00 noon

Closing Observations: John McCardell (Middlebury College)
John has the enviable opportunity of reviewing the highlights of the conference.

12:30 p.m.

Adjourn

2:00 p.m.

Optional Tour: Lincoln in Richmond (National Park Service)
Lincoln entered Richmond just days after its fall. Join a ranger on a walking tour of the area Lincoln visited in April 1865.

THE POLITICAL CARTOONS ILLUSTRATING OUR BROCHURE

Political Satire in prints was around long before the Civil War but the satirists of the time made very effective use of the medium. Abraham Lincoln’s physical characteristics lent themselves readily to hundreds of images. Here are just a few that we have chosen to highlight our upcoming conference Lincoln and the South:

The President’s Inaugural by the accomplished Thomas Nast appeared in the New York Illustrated News on March 23, 1861. On the left is how the North perceived the new Chief Executive. On Lincoln’s balanced scales of justice are allegorical figures depicting the North and South. On the right is how the South perceived him, a tyrant brutally subduing a put-upon warrior.

Lincoln Cartoon

Schoolmaster Lincoln and His Wayward Boys. A clean-shaven Lincoln admonishes some boys—who depict the South—to correct their ways. He uses a ruler representing the United States Constitution as his authority and Big Stick.

Lincoln Cartoon

Lincoln’s Last Warning. A handwritten date on the original identifies this print as being issued October 11, 1862, in the wake of the Emancipation Proclamation that Lincoln announced the previous month. Here the South is entangled in a tree representing slavery. Lincoln, who was popularized as quite handy with an axe even in his day, says, “Now, if you don’t come down, I’ll cut the tree from under you.”

Lincoln Cartoon

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis square off on the cover of a Civil War era humor magazine. It is captioned “Great fight for the championship between the Southern Fillibuster (sic) and the Western Railsplitter".

Lincoln Cartoon

The Union Christmas Dinner appeared in Harper’s Weekly on December 31, 1864. Host Lincoln welcomes in out of the cold allegorical figures representing the southern states to (re)join the northern states at the Union table. Their place has been held for them, depicting Lincoln’s attitude regarding reunification of the nation.

LIncoln Cartoon