Presented by Dr. Cecily Zander, Assistant Professor, Texas Woman’ University
Dinner: 6:00 PM Menu: Italian Sausage and Beef Lasagna, Breadsticks, Ceasar Salad and Dessert – $20, RSVP to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com or by calling or texting 817-307-9263.
Program: 7 PM
Location: UNT Health Science Center, MET Building, 1000 Montgomery, Fort Worth 76109, Room 109-111
Politics. It has always been about politics. Given our current political debates, it is tempting to think that our controversies are a 21st Century phenomenon. That is certainly not the case – politics in the 19th Century were just as heated and impactful. This talk will explore anti-militarism during the Civil War era, focusing on the political debates over the size and use of America’s armed forces that occurred as the nation was immersed in a brutal Civil War. Throughout the Civil War some of America’s prominent politicians failed to understand the value of the regular soldier, often to the detriment of the war effort.
Approaching politics through the lens of the army, the talk will discuss how antimilitarism shaped the Republican Party as it took hold of power during a period of unprecedented crisis. Many Republicans called for the war to be waged aggressively, yet held the army required to do so in great suspicion. Ideological politicians often hindered the effectiveness of the military, and the inability of Republicans to trust the armed forces hampered reconstruction efforts and any attempt to reform the failing bureaucracy overseeing Native American affairs in the West.
This should be a very informative presentation with insights into the behind-the-scenes battles that took place in 19th Century America. Don’t miss it! See you on the 8th!
Cecily N. Zander is an assistant professor of History at Texas Woman’s University and a senior fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. She currently serves as Chief Historian for Emerging Civil War. She is the author of The Army under Fire: Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era (LSU Press, 2024) and is now at work on a study of Abraham Lincoln and the American West, to be published by Liveright.