Hilda E. Bretzlaff Academy

This Academy, intended for more advanced students or graduates of “Telling America’s Story,” will take students on an in-depth exploration of perhaps the most difficult era in American history, the Civil War.

Through a thorough analysis of the writings and actions of Abraham Lincoln and others, participants will encounter and discuss the fundamental questions about America that nearly tore it apart during the 1860s. Did the Declaration of Independence promise equality for all? Was the Constitution written as a pro-slavery or anti-slavery document? Why did Lincoln call the idea that “all men are created equal” a “proposition” rather than a self-evident truth? What was proven by the outcome of the Civil War?

Though many of the conflicts that caused the Civil War, most notably the institution of slavery, are now resolved in American political discourse, some persist and continue to shape American politics to this day.