"Fire-Eaters at War" the 2011 Bottimore Lecture September 22, 2011

Throughout the 1850s, they were accused of conspiring to instigate secession and to destroy the Union. Most southerners considered them extremists, their rhetoric shrill, their recommendations unrealistic and unnecessary.

But in the crisis of 1860-1861, the so-called “Fire-Eaters” gained the upper hand. Events apparently vindicated their shrill warnings and made their extremism seem like a rational reaction to the election of a Republican president.

Then what? Having succeeded in taking the lower South states out of the Union, what role did the Fire-Eaters play in the nation they helped to create and in the war they helped to cause?

Dr. Eric H. Walther will provide answers to these and other questions in the 2011 Elizabeth Roller Bottimore Lecture, “Fire-Eaters at War.” Co-sponsored by the University of Richmond’s Department of History, the lecture will be held in UR’s Keller Hall at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, September 22nd.

The Bottimore Lecture is free, but reservations are required. You may register by clicking the link on this page or by contacting Leo Rohr at (855) 649-1861 x41 or lrohr@moc.org.

Official Website: http://www.moc.org/site/Calendar/1657408477?view=Detail&id=103841