The Battle of Antietam

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Misha Glenny and guests discuss The Battle of Antietam, the single deadliest day of the American Civil War. The battle took place on 17th September 1862, less than 100 miles from Washington D.C. The conflict had been going on for over a year, and there had been a string of successes by the rebel Confederate Army against Union forces. The Confederates were a group of Southern States that had seceded from the United States of America over their right to continue the institution of slavery. This secession was rejected by US President Abraham Lincoln, who was committed to maintaining the Union. Despite heavy Union casualties, Antietam has been called the ‘crossroads of freedom’ by historians. It played a crucial role in the release of the Emancipation Proclamation against slavery, which was described by Lincoln as ‘the great event of the 19th Century’. With Karen Salt , Professor of Culture, Place and Communities at Manchester Metropolitan University Susan-Mary Grant, Professor Emerita of American History at Newcastle University Robert Cook, Emeritus Professor of American History at the University of Sussex. Producer: Sam Peach Reading List: Alfred J. Bollet, Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs (Tuscon, Arizona: Galen Press, 2002) David W. Blight, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018) Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (2006) Gary W. Gallagher (ed.), The Antietam Campaign (2008) D. Scott Hartwig, I Dread the Thought of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign (2023) Susan-Mary Grant, The War for a Nation: The American Civil War (2006) Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (2004) Howard Jones, Blue and Gray Diplomacy: A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations (2010) James M. McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam: The Battle that Changed the Civil War (2003) Elizabeth Brown Pryor, Clara Barton: Professional Angel (1987) Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler, A Field Guide to Antietam (2016) Stephen W. Sears, Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam (2003) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.