SEMINAR 7 : audio of the sermon

Dear students,

I'm sorry, it slipped my mind that I was supposed to put the sermon on the web.

My apologies for the tardiness ; the sermon is available here :

http://dl.free.fr/hVsFTzfkG

Tea Party references in American history

This is a very short summary of an interesting op-ed piece from the NYtimes.

During the Revolution and the first decades of the 18th century, the Boston Tea Party was almost universally frowned upon. But as time passed and the possibility of suing the perpetrators faded, the rebellious Patriots' act came to symbolize the American spirit of fighting for freedom and even a model of civil disobedience . All sides used the historical event to bolster their opinion : from the governor of South Carolina who threatened to seceed during the 1831 nullifcation crisis to abolitionnists openly flouting the Fugitive Slave Act and the Temperance movement activists who ransacked saloons.

John J. Miller, the author of the article, argues that today's Tea Party movement might have a better grasp on American history than most of its critics think and that they are the latest incarnation of a deep trend running through American politics. Reading the comments on the article is also full of insight on the possible bias of the author. What do you think? Is he really supporting the modern Tea Party movement by exploring how

The NYTimes is also running a series this month on the Civil War entitled Disunion. You can even join their facebook group for those of you who spend time on the social network.

There is also a good article on Southern women in the secession crisis. They are reported to have supported secession en masse, thus challenging traditional gender roles by errupting into the public sphere. Again reading the comments is quite enlightening on the diversity of the readership!

Some have argued however that the South later lost the war partly because women lost faith in the cause, were dispirited by the suffering entailed by the war and communicated this loss of morale to their male relatives.

David Blight on the Civil War

David Blight's lectures on the civil war are incredibly interesting and I would recommend listening to them. You can download them from i-tunes or from Yale's website. The transcripts are also available.

For a good summary of his research into the memory of the civil war : listen to this lecture.

Here's David Blight telling the story of two slaves that escaped from the South during the Civil War. It's a great example of the nature of historical inquiry.