Southern Unionism During the Antebellum and Civil War Era
On Thursday, October 10, Dr. Barton Myers of Washington & Lee University will join LancasterHistory for a presentation, “Southern Unionism During the Antebellum and Civil War Era.” Not every citizen of the American South supported the Confederacy and secession in the 1860s. Before and during the Civil War, many Southerners were Unionists who were repressed and punished for their views. Dr. Barton Myers of Washington & Lee University will join LancasterHistory for a presentation on these Unionists, including those who served within the Federal government like Buchanan’s Secretary of the Treasury, Howell Cobb of Georgia.
Dr. Barton A. Myers is a Professor of History at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, an award-winning teacher and author, and a recognized authority on the American Civil War, military history and Presidential history. He has taught at Cornell University, the University of Georgia, Texas Tech University, and currently teaches military history and Civil War era courses at Washington & Lee University. Before becoming a professor, Myers served as a historian with the National Park Service at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Myers is a frequent consultant on American history for national media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and NPR’s Virginia Insight. Myers was a featured expert for the documentary miniseries “GRANT” and “LINCOLN.” He is the author of the awarding winning Executing Daniel Bright: Race, Loyalty, and Guerrilla Violence in a Coastal Carolina Community, 1861-1865 (LSU Press, 2009), Rebels Against the Confederacy: North Carolina’s Unionists (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014), and he has a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities grant supporting his current book project on the southern-born generals and admirals who fought for the Union cause during the Civil War.
EVENT DETAILS & HOW TO REGISTER
This event will take place in person at LancasterHistory on Thursday, October 10, 2024. Doors open and a reception begins at 5pm. The lecture will begin at 5:30pm. The lecture will also be streamed to Zoom at 5:30pm for those who wish to join us virtually.
This program is free and open to the public. In-person attendance requires advance registration in order to guarantee a seat. Due to capacity restrictions, tickets may not be available at the door. Virtual attendance requires advance registration in order to receive the Zoom link. Register online by clicking the appropriate link below or by calling (717) 392-4633. Registration will close online on Thursday, October 10 at 5:30pm. The online version of this program will also be recorded and uploaded to LancasterHistory’s YouTube channel after the event.
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In-Person Event Lecture Online/Virtual Event Reception
This event is hosted by the Friends of the Tanger Arboretum. The Friends of the Tanger Arboretum, a subsidiary organization of LancasterHistory, helps foster public interest in, and support for, the maintenance and development of the Tanger Arboretum as a community asset. To learn more about the Arboretum or to become a member, 
In August 1794, President George Washington sent Lancaster lawyer Jasper Yeates to western Pennsylvania. Yeates’ mission: to negotiate with a group of angry frontier settlers who were engaged in violent resistance to the new federal tax on whiskey, an event now known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Unable to find a peaceful solution, Yeates encouraged President Washington to send federal troops to suppress the insurrection – setting a precedent for the federal government’s authority to respond to political resistance with force. How did Pennsylvania whiskey almost ruin our great American experiment? What can it teach us about citizen protest and American democracy? And was the whiskey really that good? LancasterHistory’s Stephanie Townrow will lead a lively discussion about the Whiskey Rebellion over a glass of Pennsylvania rye whiskey or another drink of your choice.