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This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we learn about the long political struggle before the Civil War to rid the US of slavery. I speak with historian Graham Peck, author of Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom. It’s a fascinating conversation about how during the 70 years between the ratification of the Constitution and the Civil War, opponents of slavery gradually pushed the US to become an antislavery nation. But as Peck makes clear, this was no easy task, as proponents of slavery demanded its protection and pushed for its expansion. In the course of our discussion, Graham Peck discusses:   How political struggles between antislavery and proslavery settlers in Illinois in the 1820s presaged the national debates over slavery in the 1840s and 1850s. How and why antislavery leaders were content to leave slavery alone where it existed, but were adamantly opposed to allowing its extension into the American west. Why the controversy generated by the Kansas-Nebraska Act proved to be a key tipping point in the mobilization and unification of political antislavery into what became the Republican Party. How Abraham Lincoln emerged at this time as a leading advocate of what Peck calls an “antislavery nationalism” that argued that the US had been founded upon the principles of universal freedom with an eye toward to eventual eradication of slavery. And that this position was actually conservative, and that it was proslavery activists who wanted to expand slavery who were the radicals who threatened the nation’s wellbeing. Recommended reading:  Graham Peck, Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom (Univ. Illinois Press, 2017) Anna-Lisa Cox, The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America's Forgotten Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality Andrew Delbanco, The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War Manisha Sinha, The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition  More info about Graham Peck - website  Follow In The Past Lane on Twitter  @InThePastLane Instagram  @InThePastLane Facebook: InThePastLanePodcast YouTube: InThePastLane   Music for This Episode Jay Graham, ITPL Intro (JayGMusic.com) Kevin McCleod, “Impact Moderato” (Free Music Archive) Andy Cohen, “Trophy Endorphins” (Free Music Archive) Borrtex, Perceptions Jon Luc Hefferman, “Winter Trek” (Free Music Archive) The Bell, “I Am History” (Free Music Archive) Production Credits  Executive Producer: Lulu Spencer Technical Advisors: Holly Hunt and Jesse Anderson Podcasting Consultant: Dave Jackson of the School of Podcasting Podcast Editing: Wildstyle Media Photographer: John Buckingham Graphic Designer: Maggie Cellucci Website by: ERI Design Legal services: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Social Media management: The Pony Express Risk Assessment: Little Big Horn Associates Growth strategies: 54 40 or Fight © In The Past Lane, 2019 Recommended History Podcasts Ben Franklin’s World with Liz Covart @LizCovart The Age of Jackson Podcast @AgeofJacksonPod Backstory podcast – the history behind today’s headlines @BackstoryRadio Past Present podcast with Nicole Hemmer, Neil J. Young, and Natalia Petrzela @PastPresentPod 99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars @99piorg Slow Burn podcast about Watergate with @leoncrawl The Memory Palace – with Nate DiMeo, story teller extraordinaire @thememorypalace The Conspirators – creepy true crime stories from the American past @Conspiratorcast The History Chicks podcast @Thehistorychix My History Can Beat Up Your Politics @myhist Professor Buzzkill podcast – Prof B takes on myths about the past @buzzkillprof Footnoting History podcast @HistoryFootnote The History Author Show podcast @HistoryDean More Perfect podcast - the history of key US Supreme Court cases @Radiolab Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell @Gladwell Radio Diaries with Joe Richman @RadioDiaries DIG history podcast @dig_history The Story Behind – the hidden histories of everyday things @StoryBehindPod Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen – specifically its American Icons series @Studio360show Uncivil podcast – fascinating takes on the legacy of the Civil War in contemporary US @uncivilshow Stuff You Missed in History Class @MissedinHistory The Whiskey Rebellion – two historians discuss topics from today’s news @WhiskeyRebelPod American History Tellers ‏@ahtellers The Way of Improvement Leads Home with historian John Fea @JohnFea1 The Bowery Boys podcast – all things NYC history @BoweryBoys Ridiculous History @RidiculousHSW The Rogue Historian podcast with historian @MKeithHarris The Road To Now podcast @Road_To_Now Retropod with @mikerosenwald