The Crooked Road to Civil War, 1861

On April 14, 2011, Nelson D. Lankford delivered a Banner Lecture entitled "The Crooked Road to Civil War." When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861, Virginia remained a loyal state within the Union. In the convention that met in Richmond to consider the commonwealth's relationship to the national government, union men held a strong majority. But as events unfolded, their loyalty wavered. Nelson Lankford recounts the dramatic events of that spring, when no one could foretell the future of the country, seemingly poised on the brink of dissolution. Dr. Lankford is vice president for programs at the Virginia Historical Society and author of "Cry Havoc! The Crooked Road to Civil War, 1861." This lecture is cosponsored with the Richmond National Battlefield Park. (Introduction by Paul A. Levengood) The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.