Air Date: 011306
Subject: Michael Vorenberg: How Slavery Ended
Guest: Michael Vorenberg
Summary: Dr. Michael Vorenberg, author of Final Freedom: The Civil War, The Abolition of Slavery and the Thirteenth Amendment, analyzes the politics of the 13th Amendment.
Brett’s Summary: Michael Vorenberg discusses all aspects of the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery. The process of getting this amendment ratified while a Civil War was going on was fascinating. I did not realize this but Lincoln believed all states (not just Northern ones) counted when applying the 3/4 rule. Lincoln neatly solved the obvious problems with this by instating Union governments of rebellious states as soon as possible during the war. Louisiana was a perfect example, as was the Virginia government based in alexandria, just across the river from Washington, D.C. As a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, I was surprised to hear the Thirteenth Amendment mentioned in connection with Curt Flood and his case against Major League Baseball’s reserve clause. Another interesting test of the amendment came up near the time of this radio air date when a family tried to sell themselves to the highest bidder.
Civil War Talk Radio airs most Fridays at 12 PM Pacific on World Talk Radio Studio A. Host Gerry Prokopowicz, the History Chair at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, interviews a guest each week and discusses their interest in the Civil War. Most interviews center around a book or books if the guest is an author. Other guests over the years have included public Historians such as park rangers and museum curators,wargamers, bloggers, and even a member of an American Civil War Round Table located in London, England.
In this series of blog entries, I will be posting air dates, subjects, and guests, and if I have time, I’ll provide a brief summary of the program. You can find all of the past episodes I’ve entered into the blog by clicking on the Civil War Talk Radio category. Each program should appear either on or near the date it was first broadcast.
Check out Beyond the Crater: The Petersburg Campaign Online for the latest on the Siege of Petersburg!
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