Why Abraham Lincoln's life still matters...a brief trip through his political evolution rising from poverty in the midwest to his  Presidency and his impact on the outcome of the Civil War.

Show Notes:

Lincoln’s Ladder to the Presidency by Guy C Fraker

The Lincoln Miracle, Inside the Republican Convention that Changed History by Edward Achorn

The President’s War, The Six American Presidents, and the Civil War that Divided Them by Chris DeRose

Lincoln in Private by Ronald C White

Crooked Path to Abolition, Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution by James Oakes

Lincoln’s White House, the People’s House in Wartime by James B Conroy

Maryland Voices of the Civil War, Charles W Mitchell, ed.

Gathering to Save a Nation, Lincoln and the Union War Governors by Stephen Engle

It is a trek to make it to New Brunswick, Canada but worth the trip to visit the former cottage of the Roosevelts, where FDR spent his boyhood summers amongst the natives who taught him to navigate the treacherous waters of the Bay of Fundy and where he came down with a devastating and life changing case of Infantile Paralysis, otherwise known as Polio.

Show Notes:

Books:

Becoming FDR: The Personal Crisis That Made a President by Jonathan Darman.

There are many biographies of Roosevelt. But Geoffrey Ward perhaps writes the best books about FDR’s battle with polio.

See: https://www.americanheritage.com/fdrs-war-polio

Websites:

https://www.visitcampobello.com/

https://www.rooseveltcampobello.org/about-visitor-information

https://www.bayoffundy.com/communities/new-brunswick/campobello-island/

Historic Concord, Massachusetts made famous for the shots heard around the world, the outbreak of hostilities at the beginning the American Revolutionary War, is also famous as a center for the Transcendentalists,  a  mid 19th century group of philosophers and writers renowned for their belief in nature and man's relationship to the natural world.

For more information see:

Books

A Journey into the Transcendentalists New England by R. Todd Felton

American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau; Their lives, Their loves, Their Work by Susan Cheever

See also: Individual works by these authors and  numerous articles and websites on the Internet that describe the work and beliefs of the Transcendentalists and the following websites for more information about places to visit in Concord:

https://visitconcord.org/listing-category/museums-historic-sites/

https://newengland.com/today/travel/massachusetts/concord/historic-concord-ma/

Concord Massachusetts is a charming town with long ties to  the revolutionary era, being the location of one of the earliest skirmishes between the British and colonial troops in 1775. There is a wonderful archival repository at the Concord Free Public Library. Take a look back in time as I share my journey in that archives to discover two tales of individuals who were involved in events in the early years of the Republic when conflicts wrote the story of our country. One tale is that of Captain David Brown who fought against the British at the Old North Bridge. The other involves a Civil War soldier from nearby Roxbury whose life during that conflict led to a few surprises and an awareness of how difficult it can be to research and recreate the experiences of one individual in momentous events. 

For More Information:

The History of Concord MA by Alfred Sereno Hudson

The Minute Men and Their World by Robert A Gross and Alan M. Taylor

Captain Brown’s House

https://www.nps.gov/places/the-captain-david-brown-house-site.htm

Desertion in the Civil War by Dr. Ella Lonn

John Ransom's Civil War Diary by John L. Ransom

Correction: The date of the execution was July 7, 1865

Mary Surratt was one of four people hanged by the US Federal Government for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth and others in the assassination plot that led to the murder of Abraham Lincoln. Found guilty, there remains controversy as to her actual guilt and as to whether she deserved her fate at the gallows. This podcast will discuss her role and leave listeners wondering whether the decision to hang her was truly justified.

For More Information: 

Kate Clifford Larson on Mary Surratt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jqaJDwgQTw

Mary Surratt: Guilty or Not Guilty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDcV4Rpnx0I

For an argument that Mary Surratt met the legal threshold for conspiracy see:

Blood on the Moon: the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Edward Steers Jr.

Commissioned  by George Washington and a committee and built by James Hoban, an Irish architect, the White House was finished in 1800, but was burned and gutted by the British in 1814. Hear the story of what happened to this major symbol of a democratic republic and why it had to be rebuilt a second time nearly 135 years later.

Technical Assistance by Bill Stunden, former videographer, cameraman and documentarian of the CBC.

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/

https://www.c-span.org/video/?441819-1/president-truman-white-house-restoration

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/collections/president-trumans-renovation

Books:

“The Hidden White House: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America’s Most Famous House” by Robert Klara

“James Hoban: Designer and Builder of the White House” by Stewart McLaren

“A White House of Stone: Building America’s First Ideal in Architecture by William Seale

Notable for it natural beauty, Lake Champlain also boasts a ton of interesting history. Share just a snippet of this history as a quick look at an area that should not be missed!

See the following books and websites for more information and further reading:

There is a well-documented description of the early history of this region in David Hatchett Fisher’s book Champlain’s Dream, a study of Samuel De Champlain

For more information regarding the role of Lake Champlain in the war years see:

Valient Ambition: George Washington and Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

 “Lake Champlain: Key to Liberty” by Ralph Nading Hill

 “Benedict Arnolds’s Navy: The Rag Tag Fleet that lost the Battle of Lake

Champlain but won the American Revolution” “by James L. Nelson

https://revolutionarywar.us/year-1776/battle-valcour-island/

There is also a WEBSITE for a good overview of the Saratoga Battles:

https://www.nps.gov/articles/burgoyne-s-campaign-june-october-1777.htm

 See a link to an article in the NY Times regading the downturn affecting Ticonderoga:

 https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/nyregion/04fort.html) in the show notes

For an excellent general over view of the history of Fort Ticonderoga go to Wikipedia at:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ticroga.

 For more information of the strategic maneuvers related to Fort Ticonderoga in the American Revolution see:

“Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys” by Christopher S. Wren 

and

Fort Ticonderoga, The last campaigns: The War in the North, 1777 to 1783 by Mark Edward Lender

The story of the Battle in 1812 can be found in “The Battle of Lake Champlain: A Brilliant and Extraordinary Victory” by John H Schroeder.

For further reading on the native history around Lake Champlain, see the “Western Abernakis of Vermont by Colin G. Calloway.  

One of the most devastating and unpredicted storms hit the coast of New England in 1938.  The destruction was massive and gives us a perspective of what it means to live in a vulnerable coastal area in the United States. Storms have hit the western hemisphere for centuries and we continue to rebuild and add homes to such areas.

In an age of climate change, should we be living on barrier islands? Take a journey back to a time when we had no radar or satellite imagery and consider the choices we are making today.

Websites:

https://www.weather.gov/okx/1938HurricaneHome

https://www.weather.gov/box/1938hurricane

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/hurricane-path/

Books:

The 1938 Hurricane Along New England's Coast by Joseph P Soares

Thirty Eight: the hurricane that transformed New England by Stephen Long

Faced with so many troubles in the world what we need most to cope is perspective, beginning with historical perspective...share some thoughts with me on how we keep perspective and use our understanding to manage the many anxiety provoking issues, especially by looking at the past and placing things in historical context.

This is a podcast series that explores interesting people, places and events from the past.

Technical Assistance by Bill Stunden, former documentarian and videographer with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation