Thenceforward and Forever Free: The Emancipation Proclamation
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Length: 54:00
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he announced that all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Today, Lincoln is remembered as “The Great Emancipator,” but the story of emancipation is complex and contradictory. And the question of how we choose to commemorate this anniversary can be touchy.
In this episode, the History Guys trace the shifting meanings of the Emancipation Proclamation, from 1863 to the Civil War’s centennial to the present. How should we best understand emancipation—as a moral imperative, military necessity, political strategy, or all of the above?
Guests Include:
- David Blight - historian, Yale University
- Ta-Nehisi Coates - senior editor, The Atlantic
- Christy Coleman - President, the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar
- Kirk Savage, art & architecture historian, University of Pittsburgh
- Michael Vorenberg - historian, Brown University
Also in the BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes series
That Lawless Stream: A History of the Mississippi River
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
The Mississippi River is central to the American landscape and imagination. And for centuries, it has served as a battlefield in which our most complicated social and ...
Home Bittersweet Home: Owning the American Dream [rebroadcast]
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Home ownership is central to the American Dream, so why have so many Americans struggled to achieve it? This week’s BackStory probes the roots - and enduring influence - of ...
States of Mind: Mental Illness in America
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
The American Psychiatric Association just released its latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) – a manual that says as much about how we view the mind today, as it ...
Monumental Disagreements [rebroadcast]
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
This is a country awash in monuments. They adorn traffic circles, street corners and, of course, the National Mall. In this special Memorial Day episode of BackStory, the ...
Patent Pending: A History of Intellectual Property
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Can genes be patented? Are downloaders inhibiting musical creativity – or enhancing it? This week’s BackStory explores how Americans have viewed “intellectual property" over ...
Born in the USA: A History of Birth [rebroadcast]
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
It’s BackStory’s birthday! To celebrate one year as a weekly show, the American History Guys are going back to where it all begins: birth. From midwives to maternity wards, ...
Mission Accomplished: How Wars End
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
The declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq was famously premature. But have America's other wars had neat or definitive endings? In this episode, BackStory looks at ...
Fear Tactics: A History of Domestic Terrorism [rebroadcast]
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
With recent events in Boston highlighting the horrors of domestic terrorism, we're re-broadcasting this episode of BackStory, which originally aired last fall.
American Exodus: A History of Emigration
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
With lawmakers tackling immigration, we're devoting an episode to its flip-side -- emigration. We’ll consider the stories of those who left the U.S. in search of a better ...
BackStory - Paying Up: A History of Taxation
(54:00)
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Just in time for Tax Day, BackStory delves into the long and turbulent history of taxation in America.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he announced that all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Today, Lincoln is remembered as “The Great Emancipator,” but the story of emancipation is complex and contradictory. And the question of how we choose to commemorate this anniversary can be touchy.
In this episode, the History Guys trace the shifting meanings of the Emancipation Proclamation, from 1863 to the Civil War’s centennial to the present. How should we best understand emancipation—as a moral imperative, military necessity, political strategy, or all of the above?
Guests Include:
- David Blight - historian, Yale University
- Ta-Nehisi Coates - senior editor, The Atlantic
- Christy Coleman - President, the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar
- Kirk Savage, art & architecture historian, University of Pittsburgh
- Michael Vorenberg - historian, Brown University
Timing and Cues
*******************************************************************
SHOW RUNDOWN
06:00 – 19:00 SEG A
IC: Major support for Backstory is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
OC: You’re listening to BackStory. Don’t go away.
06:00 - 14:32 Image Problems
Brian talks with art historian Kirk Savage about the ways Americans have memorialized Lincoln as “The Great Emancipator,” and they examine how that image was used in an 1876 national monument.
14:33 - 19:00 A Delicate Matter
Historian David Blight describes the controversy that marked the Civil War’s centennial celebrations over how to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation.
19:00 – 20:00 STATION BREAK 1 (MUSIC BED)
20:00 – 39:00 SEG B
IC: This is BackStory…
OC: We’ll be back in a minute.
20:00 – 25:25 Just the Facts, Ma’am
Brian and Peter talk to legal historian Michael Vorenberg to nail down what exactly the Emancipation Proclamation did and didn’t do.
25:26 – 30:39 Plan B
The History Guys discuss Lincoln’s anxieties over whether blacks and whites could live together peacefully in the wake of slavery, and take a look at his proposal to resettle freed slaves somewhere outside the United States.
30:40 – 39:00 Vantage Points
Ed discusses the response to the Emancipation Proclamation in the North, and talks with Christy Coleman on the varying perspectives in the South.
39:00 – 40:00 STATION BREAK 2 (MUSIC BED)
40:00 – 59:00 SEG C
IC: We’re back with BackStory…
OC: …at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
40:00 – 47:00 Listener Call
Peter, Ed, and Brian take a call from a listener.
47:01 – 51:20 A Long Way from There to Here
BackStory producer Eric Mennel talks with writer and editor Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic about the legacy of emancipation for African-Americans today.
51:21 – 58:03 In Their Own Words
We hear three former slaves, recorded by the WPA in the 1930s, describe their experiences of emancipation.
58:04 – 59:00 PRODUCTION/FUNDING CREDITS
***********************************************************************
Contact: Producer, Tony Field (434) 924-8922, tfield@virginia.edu
Related Website
Of 7 purchasers of this piece...
- 5 also bought:
- 5 also bought:
- 5 also bought:
- 5 also bought:
- 4 also bought:
HV101- John Ono Lennon (54:00)
