Building Democracy: The Story of State Legislatures

Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures | Episode 3

Episode Summary

n this installment, we explore how the states and their legislatures expanded west, split apart, and came together again. The era of American history between 1803-1877 was one of massive territorial growth, conflict, and social and economic change. The U.S. evolved from a small grouping of former colonies and newly formed states on the East Coast to exponentially expanding territories across the South, Midwest and the wilderness of the West. Legislatures were the main venue for shaping these territories into states of diverse populations and environments. After the Civil War, state legislatures became the main setting for enforcing reconstruction policies and resistance to them. The struggle to integrate a huge population of formerly enslaved people into the citizenry led to incredible victories for the expansion of civil rights, only to see them shrink again, continuing the push and pull we continue to experience as a nation today.

Episode Notes

Guests

• Bob Davidson, former director, Mississippi Senate Legislative Services Office
• Mark Hirsch, historian, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian │Bio │Blog
• Burdett Loomis, professor emeritus, University of Kansas │Bio
• Kercheik Sims-Alvarado, assistant professor of Africana Studies, Morehouse College │Bio │Book

Special Guest Voice

• Representative Billy Mitchell, Georgia │Bio

Additional Resources

• Building Democracy: Episode 3 | Transcript
• Building Democracy: Episode 3 | Show Notes
• Building Democracy: Episode 3 | Resources and Reading List