The Cornerstone of the Confederacy (1861)

It’s March 16th. In 1861, Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America, delivered a speech that came to be known as the “cornerstone speech.”

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Stephens’s remarks left little doubt about the centrality of slavery in the Confederacy’s desire to secede — even though the role of slavery in causing the Civil War continued to be contested for decades.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia

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