Dr. James Oakes 
Faculty, City University of New York 

Dr. Oakes is the author of the book, “Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865” (W.W. Norton, 2013), which won the Abraham Lincoln Prize for the best scholarly book on the Civil War era. He bases his lecture on two concepts, “military emancipation” and “the cordon of freedom.” These concepts, he says, resulted in the 13th Amendment, which banned slavery in the U.S. Dr. Oakes’ presentation is CSU, Chico’s annual Joanna Dunlap Cowden Memorial Lecture in History and also marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment. 

Recorded: October 12, 2015