May 8, 2025 at 6:30 pm
Our May meeting will have Dr. Aaron Astor delving into one of the most pivotal moments in American history—the United States Presidential Election of 1860. This election not only brought Abraham Lincoln to power but also set the stage for the Civil War, forever altering the nation’s trajectory. Explore the dramatic sectional divisions, from the fractured Democratic Party to the rise of the Republican platform opposing slavery’s expansion. Discover how Lincoln’s victory, achieved without support from Southern states, catalyzed secession and reshaped American democracy. We’ll uncover the forces that influenced voter decisions and examine the lasting impact of this historic election. Don’t miss this opportunity to understand how a single election changed the fate of a nation!
Aaron Astor, Ph.D., is Professor of History at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. He is the author of the books, Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri, 1860-1872 (2012) and The Civil War Along Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau (2015), and co-editor of the book, Slavery: Interpreting American History (2021). He has also written eleven articles for the award-winning New York Times Disunion series, addressing such topics as guerrilla warfare, battles and campaigns in the Western Theater, popular politics, emancipation and race, and regional identity in the Appalachian South. He is currently working on a book project that explores the 1860 Presidential election as a grassroots phenomenon from the perspective of four distinct American communities. Astor earned his Ph.D. in History at Northwestern University in 2006 and his B.A. at Hamilton College in 1995.
