The Fire-Eaters
Tuesdays, October 13, 20, 27, November 3, 10 | 7 - 9 p.m.
Tuition: $140; GAA members pay only $110
Location: George Watts Hill Alumni Center
Register securely online. To most the names below are unfamiliar. Yet, they - through word and deed, contributed mightily to sectionalism, secession and war. History has branded them hot-headed fanatics. As we count down to the 150th commemoration of the American Civil War, this course delves into the lives of five ardent reactionaries who helped create it. October 13: John Brown
He once stated in 1837, "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses...I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery." His vehicle for such was found in his favorite verse, Hebrews 9:22, "...without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin." Join us for the most famous of activists whose violent actions, without question, sowed the seeds for bloody civil war. October 20: William Lowndes Yancey
This journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and Southern nationalist was so passionate about defending slavery that he dueled while a congressman, and upon Lincoln's election blurted, "Shall we remain in the Union and all be slaves...God forbid." This session follows the fiery career of a man that historian Emory Thomas tabbed as one of three who pushed "the longest and loudest" for secession. October 27: Louis Trezevant Wigfall
This week we focus on a South Carolina native who mixed personal honor, pride and principle into such an explosive package that he dueled with one of his own. The most loyal to friends, he could make life tortuous for those who crossed him - as Governor Sam Houston and President Jefferson Davis could attest. November 3: Robert Barnwell Rhett
When Senator John C. Calhoun passed in March 1850, this fire-eater filled the vacant seat and continued the beat for states' right. So much so, that in May 1852 the state of South Carolina passed an ordinance declaring a states' right to secede, thus prompting this "Gamecock" to immediately resign his seat in the Senate. This night we examine the life and career of one of the most prominent to advocate secession. November 10: Edmund Ruffin
Of all the Southerners we cover in this series, this Virginian is best known. An agricultural innovator, this individual preached secession and chastised his native state for refusing to join South Carolina in secession. He seemed to be everywhere...in Charleston, at Fort Sumter, at First Manassas and in April 1865, in Richmond where, refusing to acknowledge defeat, he made the ultimate sacrifice. Lecturer: Fred W. Kiger '74, '77 (MAT) Register online. For more information, to be added to our mailing list or to register by phone, contact Steffi Kinton '05 at (919) 962-0313 or ccll@unc.edu. |
