2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War and the beginning of the end of slavery in America.
The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities joins the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission in commemorating this tumultuous chapter in America’s history.
Here is a compilation of some of the work VFH is engaged in related to the Civil War and its anniversary.
The 1st of 5 discussions on “Making Sense of the Civil War” based on three texts: “March” by Geraldine Brooks; “Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam” by James McPherson; and “America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries,” an anthology edited by national project scholar and President of the University of Richmond [...]
The 2nd of a 5-part discussion series "Making Sense of the Civil War,” based on the following texts: March, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam, and America's War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 250th Anniversaries.
The Confederate battle flag, initially authorized for units of the Confederate armed forces during the American Civil War (1861–1865), has become one of the most recognized, misunderstood, and controversial symbols in American history.
Elizabeth Van Lew was a Richmond Unionist and abolitionist who spied for the United States government during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Leading a network of a dozen or so white and African American women and men, she relayed information on Confederate operations to Union generals and assisted in the care and sometimes escape of [...]
The Battle of the Crater, part of the Petersburg Campaign, was the result of an unusual attempt, on the part of Union forces, to break through the Confederate defenses just south of the critical railroad hub of Petersburg, Virginia, during the American Civil War (1861–1865).
Encyclopedia Virginia tells the story of Confederate general Robert E. Lee who led the Army of Northern Virginia from June 1862 until its surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
The American Civil War was fought from 1861 until 1865. It began after Virginia and ten other states in the southern United States seceded from the Union following the election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S.
The house in DC where President Abraham Lincoln died has been closed for renovation. Over the last 150 years, the story of his assassination has been told and retold in books, plays, and films, but a Booth biographer in Virginia says murder wasn’t actually the original plan. Thomas Pierce reports.
In hindsight, it’s easy to see the Civil War as a conflict just waiting to happen. But to Americans in the spring of 1861, disunion was anything but inevitable.
In this third part of BackStory‘s “Civil War 150th” series, the History Guys present a special listener Q & A. The episode picks up on some of the themes of the previous two “Civil War 150th” episodes, and puts a number of new questions on the table.
In this hour of BackStory, the History Guys turn the question of the war’s causes on its side, asking instead why Northerners and Southerners took up arms to fight one another.
