E23. US History – Understanding This Country | Prelude to Civil War

In this gripping episode of US History – Understanding This Country, we trace the volatile road to the American Civil War—from the Wilmot Proviso to Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address. Learn how heated debates over slavery, landmark legislation like the Fugitive Slave Act and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and violent flashpoints like “Bleeding Kansas” tore the nation apart. We explore the rise of the Republican Party, the Dred Scott decision, the election of 1860, and the formation of the Confederate States of America. A nation divided. A storm brewing. History, right before the cannon fire.