The U.S. Capitol Historical Society is proud to announce the 2010 Spring Symposium:
"Secession and War Come to Washington"

Friday, May 7, 2010
9 am to 4:30 pm
Reception following

Capitol Visitor Center: SVC 212/210
Union Station or Capitol South metro
Free and open to the public.

Part of the series The National Capital in a Nation Divided:
Congress and the District of Columbia Confront Sectionalism and Slavery.

If you have not pre-registered, you are still welcome to join us for any part of the day. You will need to present a picture ID at the Senate Appointment Desk once you have entered the Capitol Visitor Center.

Please remember that meeting rooms can be chilly; dress accordingly.

If there is a long line when you arrive at the CVC,  you may go to the front of the line and inform the office that you are there on "official business, to attend the USCHS symposium".  Once you have gone through security, go down one level to Emancipation Hall and look for the gold statue of King Kamehameha to the right.  The Senate Appointment Desk is nearby; they will check you in and direct you to SVC 212/210.

Allow extra time to pass through Capitol Visitor Center security, and note that the following items are prohibited in the CVC: aerosol containers, liquids (except perfume, cream, and lotion) and food, pointed objects except pens and pencils, and luggage and other large bags and backpacks.

 
Program

Morning Session   9:00AM to 12:15PM

9:00 to 9:45

Jonathan Earle

University of Kansas

 “A Martyr, A Speaker, and Impending Crisis: The Fight over the Speakership in 1860”

9:45-10:30

Eric Walther

University of Houston

"'Shatter this Accursed Union': The Fire-Eaters in Congress in 1860"

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-11:30

Orville Vernon Burton

Coastal Carolina University

"Lincoln and Secession"

11:30-12:15

Mischa Honeck

Heidelberg Center for American Studies

 “Why We Fight. German-American Revolutionists Confront Slavery and Secession”

12:15-1:30 Lunch Break

Afternoon Session 1:30PM-4:30PM

1:30-2:15

Keynote

James Oakes

The Graduate Center, CUNY

"Disunion is Abolition: The Emancipation Debate during the Secession Crisis"

2:15-3:00

Brooks Simpson

Arizona State

"'On to Richmond!': Popular Expectations and Union War Planning in 1861"

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15-4:00

Lesley Gordon

University of Akron

"'These Zouaves will never support us': Congress, Cowardice, and the First Battle of Bull Run"

4:00-4:30

Closing Remarks and Audience Q&A

Paul Finkelman

President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School