Historian and author Ira Berlin talks about the realities of day to day life for slaves. Professor Berlin explains that the slave's experience varied depending on whether he or she lived in a city or in the country, on a small farm or a large planta...
While many people, including Abraham Lincoln, said the Civil War was about the Union, historian and author Ira Berlin argues that the war cannot be understood without the institution of slavery. In fact, Professor Berlin adds, "...By the end of the ...
Historian and author Ira Berlin provides a historical overview of slavery, noting that it is mentioned in both the Bible and the Koran. Professor Berlin describes slavery as an institution that produces goods very quickly and cheaply, but does so in...
Historian and author Ira Berlin explains that slaveholders were generally able to prevail upon non-slaveholders to help them squelch resistance among the slave population. "But ultimately," Professor Berlin notes, "...slavery is destroyed by what we...
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson talks about "the great Black migration" from the rural south to the urban north, and credits this for the ultimate acceptance enjoyed by white immigrant groups.
Professor of history Gary Gerstle talks about what he calls one of the great ironies of World War II and the twentieth century. "On the one hand," Professor Gerstle explains, "...the illegitimacy of racial prejudice was put before the American peopl...
Historian and author Ira Berlin explains that slavery in the United States was not a regional institution. It existed in the north as well as the south, until the north committed to put an end to slavery sometime after the American Revolution. Profe...
Professor of history Gary Gerstle explains that Woodrow Wilson's views on immigrants and assimilation were very similar to those of Theodore Roosevelt. But while Roosevelt was very conflicted about minority rights, Wilson was much more set in his ra...
Historian and author Ira Berlin argues that the Civil War was a revolutionary event, not only because it transformed the lives of African-Americans, but because it destroyed the institution of slavery, as well as the world's most powerful slaveholdi...