prof. gannon: i will speak about what i studied, the grand army of the republic being the largest veterans organization. one of the most important things i found was the role of the african-american host. just like av -- african-american post. just like a vw post. i found meeting minutes of an african-american post where they wrote exactly that that was their purpose, to remind people of what has happened in the civil war. they were very direct about it. what they did is they would participate in memorial day. july 4, large parades, any kind of event possible. they would name their posts after great heroes, whether they were white like robert shaw or a lesser-known person like joel bend. they would have lectures. they saw themselves of living reminders that they had fought in a war for their own freedom. it was a twofold thing. what i found surprising was that they were the center of the community idea. they had women's groups associated with them or part of a larger organization called women's re

prof. gannon: when you look at the union cause, to preserve the union, they saw under arms together, who were reluctant to embrace blue and gray. they saw the as the capstone of their victory that demonstrated they had been right, they had achieved what had to be achieved. they had created a united nation. they were clear on this. freeman who would be able to serve together and go on, a shining model and bring democracy to the world. it was through their service and sacrifice this had been accomplished. >> they trotted out former confederates and made them generals during the war. prof glymph: lee was the council to cuba before the war and was active in reconciliation efforts. it was a huge moment, a huge benchmark. prof. gallagher: and a huge man. he was an actually very active in moving around very much. prof. waugh: he moved quickly when the maine exploded. prof varon: are there east-west differences? prof glymph: clearly. we tend to forget californians fought in the war. we tend to forget in 1

prof. gannon: there are so many. one of the things people have no idea is how many medal of honor winners there were among colored troops there were 14 in one battle. christian fleetwood was one of those medal of honor winners. robert penn, there are so many others. there were also the african americans in the navy who were also awarded the medal of honor. they were so much more. so many stories. it's incredible about their sacrifice. most people don't realize the men who fought at port hudson were officers, black officers among them. the 54th massachusetts had black officers at the end. one of the better known people was joseph wilson, who became historian and he was the one who wrote one of the seminal books in 1890 about african-american military service. a very well thought of book that chronicled it. it was keyed to people remembering the blacks had served. prof. varon: wilson a great example of someone who is intervening in memory. i recently wrote a book about appomattox which i learned som

prof. gannon: the republicans became dominant because the democrats left. they were not going to pass a homestead act. >> the republicans set the stage for western development. prof glymph: the debate over the secession, what took place in kansas and nebraska, over whether the country would be open for free labor or slave labor, free labor was a motivating factor in this war and a very important component of the platform. they were eager to unleash the energy after the war. prof varon: the question from the audience. they ask us to think about the degree to which the civil war is appealing to today's youth. why are they interested in the civil war? do we accept that premise? we were commenting on the centennial audiences. they tend to be adults, and relatively few young people. i've noticed that as i have given talks. at the same time i think we find students are very hungry for civil war courses at the university level. any musings about reaching out to young people? whether we have done it well? what we might do? >> one of the notions is the demographics a

matt: the --prof. gannon: u.s. colored troops are more than anyone ever imagined. the u.s. colored troops are federal volunteer units, there's over 140 of them of various times. they were a significant military force. it's interesting, at the beginning of the war, none of the white northerners would have ever imagined you would have had black northern soldiers. in fact, they turned many, many patriotic northern free men away. it's only the process of the war, the high discounts sickness, and the fact that it didn't go well, that prompted people to really think about harming african americans. -- armin african americans. the emancipation proclamation was authorized. you had over 180,000 troops which on one hand, people always say there were 2 million union troops, but they came when they were needed. they were fresh troops at the end of the war. i don't think any other military historian would dispute at the end of a very long, hard-fought war, you had fresh committed troops just handed to you. that isn't an enormously significant factor. and i think they are very important