Slavery and the Civil War, Part 1

What really caused the Civil War? In this episode, Salem State University Professor Bethany Jay examines the complex role that slavery played in causing the Civil War and outlines ways to teach this history and clarify our understanding of the Confederacy. Join host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., and Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). (This episode originally aired in Jan. 2018.) Visit the new resource page for this episode (2025), which includes essential ideas and teaching recommendations from the conversation, updated resources, and a complete transcript.

You can listen to Slavery and the Civil War, Part 1 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Slavery and the Civil War, Part 1 is an episode from Teaching Hard History: American Slavery by Learning for Justice.

This episode is 32:44 long.

This episode was published on Jun 19, 2025.

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