What if... Abraham Lincoln had not freed the slaves?

Presented by Associate Professor Peter Field

Did Hollywood get Lincoln right?
How did an America devoted to freedom come to have 4 million slaves?
Was it worth 600,000 deaths in a bloody civil war to end slavery?
Was Lincoln a great president, a great leader?
Did the slaves really free themselves?

Abraham Lincoln is widely acknowledged to be one of the great leaders in American—and world—history. The ultimate poor-boy-made-good, Lincoln rose to greatness to guide the American nation through the secession crisis and a bitter, bloody civil war. In the midst of that war he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing millions of slaves. Or did it? Did Lincoln really free the slaves? The 2013 Hollywood blockbuster Lincoln reminds us that ending slavery was a complex process which took more than a stroke of the pen to accomplish. On this "What if Wednesday" we will explore Lincoln's greatness, his movie facsimile, and the emancipation from bondage of several millions of Americans. What fun!

Видео What if... Abraham Lincoln had not freed the slaves? канала University of Canterbury