Everyone, please welcome Dr. Steven Hahn, the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. His focus is in the history of nineteenth-century America, African-American history, the history of the American South, and the international history of slavery and emancipation.

Please give him a warm welcome and remember our rules and polices on AMA's!

Hello Dr. Hahn. This is something I've been wondering for a while -

What was Abe Lincoln's view / position on "40 acres and a mule"?

Did he disagree with it? Agree with it? Abet it? Did he support it?

Perhaps hitting on the obvious question here, but just going by the description of the book that you provided here, and the themes it addresses, when you note "emphasiz[ing] the complex relation between nation and empire, between slavery and its aftermath", are you seeing there to be an important connection between those two groupings? If so, how does slavery, and its end, factor into the shifting self-image of the American nation and "Empire" during the latter half of the 19th-century?

Dr. Hahn, there are often major debates about the era of Reconstruction in the American South and how it relates to racism in America. Some blame the lingering issues of race in America on the process, some blame the South's inability to match other parts of Americas economic progress, etc. Some have argued that Lincolns idea of a 'soft reconstruction' would have worked better than what did happen which is often called 'harsh reconstruction.'

With your experience in this area, do you feel that the outcome of Reconstruction was inevitable? How much do you think it played a role in the lingering issues of race in America, and if had been different would it have changed much?"

The title of your book refers to "Civil Wars" in the plural, and apparently defining the mid-1800s to early-1900s by their presence. Which other conflicts are you focusing on in defining this period - 1848 Revolutions and Carlist Spain come to mind - and how do you see these non-American conflicts interplaying with America's growing place in the world?

In your opinion, what rule does academic history have to play in educating the public, especially the white American public, about race and how oppressions of the past have a legacy today? In other words, what can we as historians do to move our country forward?

The Philippines -

Was just dealing with Aguinaldo for coaling stations and naval bases ever on the table for the US? Or was taking over practically a given when Dewey steamed into Manila Bay?

How much of a role did sharecropping in the South, play into exacerbating racial tensions in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries?

How was the "end of slavery!" and then the "end of Reconstruction!" transmitted to the wider U.S. public? How did people learn about the laws themselves, and what kinds of attempts at educating people to make them accept the laws as right going forward were there? Did Sunday school literature play a role?

Similarly, what was the knowledge level of "ordinary Americans" about American empire abroad? How did American frontier mythos interact with efforts at U.S. imperialism in Mexico and overseas?

What are some of your favorite political cartoons from this period?

Dr. Hahn, thanks for being here. I recently finished a paper examining a 1926 bombing here in Alaska and discussed how it was believed at the time to be a political act given the surge in anarchist, communist and nationalist bombings in the United States at that time.

In your view, how significant was the national surge in bombings during the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, and does this factor into your book?

Thank you very much for doing this AMA, Dr. Hahn! In your examination of the period, did you encounter much of any thought given to the sociological theories of Henry Hughes? Was his specific brand of pro-slavery thought ("warrantism") in any way influential in the South either before or after the war?

Dr. Hahn, thank you for doing this. I wanted to ask you about the Wilmington insurrection of 1898.

What are your thoughts on President McKinley's inaction in response to the coup? The only accounts I've read say that it was because the NC Governor never requested help. Are there any other reasons why the President sat idly?

At the time Wilmington was the largest city in NC and the town was overthrown by Democrat, White Supremacists. It strikes me as odd that McKinley let this happen when he was a Republican who fought for the Union in the Civil War.

Dr. Hahn, Thank you for being here. In all of your work, what have you put forward that has had the most opposition to it? Why? Additionally, is there anything which you have written, that you would like to modify?

Hello Dr Hahn,

What is your view on the Southern newspapers and their role in shaping Southern Society, advocating slavery and advocating for Civil War?

The Fire-Eaters seem to be a bit forgotten and I'm curious what your view is.

Thanks for going this AMA.

Was there immigration between states to the same extent as today before and directly after the Civil War, or were people more attached to their home state?

Also, do we have any historical evidence for a belligerent anti-North sentiment in the South after the war, or an anti-South sentiment in the North? Was this mostly expressed in print media and popular ideology, or did it go as far as hostile actions like assaults and vandalism, similar to anti-German sentiment in Great Britain during the World Wars?

this seems like a really neat book.

three questions:

one: how did Americans understand the revolutions of 1848.

two: did america interact with south america and especially brazil in regards to race and slavery. what did abolition change (on either side) and did the existence of a slave brazil in the 1870s and early 1880s impact american politics or self identity?

three: what are 3 books from other people, you'd recommend that influenced how you think and that you think more people should read

Hopefully this isn't too obscure of a question, but is there anything you can tell me about the Melungeon communities during the Civil War and to what extent they either supported the Union or the Confederacy (or otherwise stayed out of it altogether)?

Also, are there any good sources and readings pertaining to Melungeons during this era that you could recommend in general?

Would you consider Lincoln as the most dividing president in American history or the most unifying?