Watch the Program Here
On April 23, 2021, the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation hosted a virtual event with the distinguished historian H.W. Brands that explored the history of two competing visions for the United States immediately before the Civil War. In his book, The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom, Brands reflects on the lives and leadership of Abraham Lincoln and John Brown, and their shared vision for the abolition of slavery. Brands explains that while the two men shared common ground on abolition, each sought a different way of achieving emancipation. Brown was an anti-slavery militant who sought to violently overthrow the institution of slavery in the South, an objective for which he lost his life after trying to foment a slave-led revolt in 1859. Lincoln, on the other hand, delivered our nation through its most profound existential crisis, defeated the Confederacy, and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Both men shaped the war for freedom in this country and paid dearly for their efforts to do so. Ready to learn more? Access a recording of this lecture on the Center’s YouTube page to learn more about this seminal chapter in American history.
The Hauenstein Center and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, Library and Museum, were proud to virtually host a close friend in Professor H.W. Brands.
In his most recent book, The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom, Brands tells the story of two adversaries who had a different vision of what the future of the United States should look like. In what Kirkus has called “an outstanding dual biography,” Brands brilliantly illustrates how two American giants shaped the war for freedom.
When
April 22, 2021
Program Supporters
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum
