I decided not to wait for this week's Civil War Articles post. As many of you know, the New York Times has been running a series entitled, Disunion, since the American Civil War Sesquicentennial began in 2011. A few weeks ago, the Times asked readers to submit questions they still had about the war. The Times asked a panel of historians to answer those questions. In April 2011, the Times convened this same panel for a kickoff of the Disunion column. In the article, they include a link to the audio of that initial discussion.

Link to Disunion: The Final Q & A

The List of Questions

• What were the two or three biggest mistakes made by Jefferson Davis?

• Who was the most effective military leader of the Civil War?

• Notwithstanding the much-celebrated Emancipation Proclamation, was the end of slavery not accomplished by the slaves themselves, by refusing to remain slaves whenever the presence of Union forces made this possible?

• How different was Andrew Johnson’s reconstruction strategy from the one Lincoln would have likely employed had he lived to complete his second term?

• Since the end of the Civil War, the United States went on steadily to become a global power, while Europe went in the opposite direction. Can you comment on the effect of the post Civil War United States in the geopolitical configuration of the world?

• How do you envisage the Civil War’s bicentennial being commemorated in 50 years time? Both within the academic world of Civil War scholars and within the wider American political and public spheres? Where do you see the future of the Civil War heading in these arenas?

The Panelists

• David Blight, professor of history, Yale University
• Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker
• Adam Goodheart, director of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College
• Jamie Malanowski, author of “Commander Will Cushing: Daredevil Hero of the Civil War”