Episodes

The surrender of Fort Sumter immediately throws the nation into a crucible of decision-making and a desperate search for leadership, testing Thomas Carlyle’s “Great Man Theory.” Was the bombardment in Charleston Harbor a symbolic gesture or a spark leading to something far worse? Will leaders remain loyal to the Union or align with their home states? How far will President Lincoln go to secure the capital, risking accusations of dictatorship and facing a direct challenge from the Chief Justice o...

In this Breaking Nation interview, historian and YouTube host and creator Chris Mowery discusses how a childhood fascination with the Titanic and Civil War films sparked his lifelong love of history. He shares how that passion grew into Vlogging Through History, a YouTube channel with over half a million followers dedicated to exploring forgotten stories from the past. Mowery reflects on the challenge of predicting what resonates online, the joy of building a global history community, and his dr...

In this conversation, historian Robert Tracy McKenzie reflects on a career spent studying and teaching America’s past, from the Civil War to the broader story of democracy. He shares how his upbringing in Tennessee and the influence of family and mentors shaped his calling as a historian. McKenzie discusses the challenges of writing about divided communities like Knoxville during the Civil War, the importance of resisting presentism, and the misconceptions many Americans still hold about that co...

In early 1861, two men traveled east to become American presidents – Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America and Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America. Each was thrown into the fire of crisis. With secessionist fever spreading across the country, plots and conspiracies put the political and military leaders on high alert. Would there be an eleventh-hour proposal for peace? Would violence erupt in Baltimore and Washington? And what would happen to Fort Sumter? Would the ten...

The election of 1860 would alter the trajectory of the United States. First, the party conventions had to decide which candidates would run for the presidency, and second, Americans would make their choice. Easy, right? Not so fast. What happens when a national convention falls apart? What happens when not two, not three, but when four candidates are running for the highest office? And what does the lame duck President, who is counting the days until he can leave Washington, do when the governme...

What happens when a political party implodes? One newspaperman in hindsight said, “The Whig party died of too much respectability and not enough people.” The decade before the Civil War saw politics as figurative and literal mayhem as parties splintered and fistfights broke out in Congress. Kansas became a battleground, the Supreme Court made the worst decision ever, and violence predicted the eve of full-out and open war. Was there a group or a person who could lead the country forward? Recomm...

Why did slavery exist in the United States, and how did it get that way? To better understand America leading up to the Civil War, it’s vital to trace its roots back to its origins and how its British history morphed into the Southern society, politics, and economy. As the US grew, every increase strained against the uneasy tension between the pragmatic and the moral perspectives on the South’s “peculiar institution.” How would the country deal with this tension and the sparks that began to ligh...

“History never looks like history when you are living through it,” said John W. Gardner, US cabinet secretary. Too often we look at history as names, dates and information, but for those who had to live through it, they had no idea what was going to happen. So let’s consider the American Civil War – without spoilers. As we begin Breaking Nation: A Civil War Podcast, let’s consider several questions: How do we look at the American Civil War? What inspired the creation of this podcast? Why is lea...

What caused the American Civil War? Better yet, what caused the causes? In order to discover the answers, it’s essential to explore the context of the United States at the time… How had the country changed since its independence in 1776? What foundations had it been built upon? What growing pains affected not just the government but also the citizenry? And how did leaders attempt to deal with the one issue that just couldn’t be swept under the rug? Recommended Booklist Adams, James Truslow. Th...