Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Steven Groothuis
Unabridged: 1 hr 45 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 04/14/2020
Genre: History - United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877)
One of the men most responsible for the closing of the frontier was John Wesley Powell, arguably the best-known American explorer after Lewis and Clark. He was lionized for a long portion of his life and vilified for another. Powell was a competent man, self-confident and able to instill confidence in his abilities to lead, and his expeditions helped Americans better understand the West, an impressive achievement for the son of English immigrants who wanted him to become a Methodist preacher. Instead, he became America’s most influential scientist, without the kind of academic training required to rise to that position today.
As if the achievements alone weren’t enough, he managed to accomplish them despite physical handicaps. He was a schoolteacher at the age of 18, and throughout his 20s he conducted solo voyages up and down the Mississippi, from New Orleans to St. Paul. He did the same on the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi, in addition to exploring the Illinois and Des Moines Rivers. During the Civil War, Powell was a Union officer who rose to the rank of major, and even after he lost an arm at the Battle of Shiloh, he performed critical engineering work in the Vicksburg Campaign and commanded artillery at the Battle of Nashville. After the war, he virtually created the United States Geologic Survey and the Bureau of Ethnology and brought serious scientific study to American landforms, geology, and the study of native peoples. He was also one of the founders of the influential National Geographic Society.
This public address, given well before his presidency, was to the Springfield Washington Temperance Society. Although it did take a stance for temperance, it stirred the waters quite significantly for its time – mainly because it criticized th...
Americans have long been fascinated by the Civil War, marveling at the size of the battles, the leadership of the generals, and the courage of the soldiers. Since the war's start over 150 years ago, the battles have been subjected to endless debat...
Americans have long been fascinated by the Civil War, marveling at the size of the battles, the leadership of the generals, and the courage of the soldiers. Since the war's start over 150 years ago, the battles have been subjected to endless debate...
As 1862 dawned, the American republic was at death’s door. The federal government appeared overwhelmed, the U.S. Treasury was broke, and the Union’s top general was gravely ill. The Confederacy—with its booming economy, expert mili...
Abraham Lincoln saw many political changes during his time as president, few speeches regarding this were so impactful for their time than the last public address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1865. This address was given only two days after the surre...
James M. McPherson, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, and arguably the finest Civil War historian in the world, walks us through the site of the bloodiest and perhaps most consequential battle ever fought by Americ...
Abraham Lincoln was undeniably one of the most influential politicians in American history. In this collection of letters, speeches, and other writings by Lincoln, listeners can gain a uniquely intimate perspective on the sixteenth president of the ...
This was the first speech given by the newly-elected President of the United States. In an already tense state, Lincoln made the address with the hopes that the discordant South would listen. While reinforcing that the Union would never break, he en...
A House divided was a speech that was given after his nomination to be a state senator by the Republican Party at the Illinois State Capital. In this speech, he clearly states something that he had always held to be true – that the United Stat...