A New History of the American South

To know the history of the American South, within its own context, is to come to terms with one of modern history's most astonishing, polarizing, and illuminating stories. In these 24 lectures, you'll relive the unforgettable drama of the South, from the rise and fall of the slave South to the making of the New South, examining the full scope of a historical epoch that still affects life in the United States today, through essential topics such as:

The Forging of the Slave South-Follow the settling of the Southern colonies, and the economic conditions that made slavery a profitable business model; see how the slave economy expanded following the American Revolution;
Southern Prosperity and Culture-Witness the creation of the large-scale cotton economy that emblemized the South; learn how the enslaved lived and worked, and the ways in which slaves rebelled against a dehumanizing system;
Breakdown of the Union-Examine the events that marked the disintegrating relations between North and South, from the emancipation of the Northern states to the divisive presidential election of 1860;
Emancipation and the Experiment of Reconstruction-Relive the era of Reconstruction, and the bitter conflict between the North's efforts to remake the South and white Southerners' actions to reassert their prewar power; and
Segregation and the New South-Observe how political and legal means were employed to separate the races and maintain white supremacy; explore how the New South gave rise to religious and musical expression of globe-spanning impact.

In A New History of the American South, you'll take a richly detailed excursion into the story and the enduring legacy of the South, in a historical inquiry unique in its scope. In Professor Ayers's words, "We cannot understand the United States if we do not understand the South, which has played such an outsized role in the history of our country."

All Lectures:
1. The Geography of the American South
2. The World of Slavery
3. Slavery Becomes American
4. The Southern Colonies Take Root
5. Southern States in the New Nation
6. War, Uprising, and Southern Solidarity
7. The Birth of the Cotton South
8. Evangelical Faith in the South
9. Rebellion, Renewal: Tightening of Slavery
10. Arguments for and against Slavery
11. A Restless South: Expansion and Conflict
12. Life in the Slave South
13. Sovereignty and Slavery in the American West
14. The Complex Road to Secession
15. Elemental Loyalties and Descent into War
16. End of War and of Slavery
17. Reconstruction and the Freedmen's Bureau
18. The Landscape of the New South
19. Farmers and the Rise of Populism
20. The Invention of Segregation
21. Lynching and Disfranchisement
22. Religious Faith in the New South
23. Literature and Music of the New South
24. The Legacies of the Southern Saga