Podcasts History History Unplugged Podcast Meet the Four Congressmen Who Won the Civil War and Shaped Reconstruction

Meet the Four Congressmen Who Won the Civil War and Shaped Reconstruction

Published: May 13, 2021, 6:15 a.m.

b'The popular conception of the Civil War is that Abraham Lincoln single-handedly led the Union to victory. But in addition to the Great Emancipator, we can also thank four influential members of Congress\\u2013Thaddeus Stevens, Pitt Fessenden, Ben Wade, and the proslavery Clement Vallandigham. They show us how a newly empowered Republican party shaped one of the most dynamic and consequential periods in American history.
Today\\u2019s guest is Fergus Bordewich, author of \\u201cCongress of War.\\u201d He shows that from reinventing the nation\\u2019s financial system to pushing President Lincoln to emancipate the slaves to the planning for Reconstruction, Congress undertook drastic measures to defeat the Confederacy, in the process laying the foundation for a strong central government that came fully into being in the twentieth century.'