Live-Streamed Lecture "Carl Schurz and the Waning of Minority Rights in 1870s America"

The Rhinelander and 1848 revolutionary Carl Schurz (1829-1906), who became known as an anti-slavery activist and republican politician in the USA during the Civil War era, is still widely regarded today as an integral figure of German-American friendship. Numerous accolades emphasize that Schurz, throughout his life, stood up for the principles of democracy and the equality of all people.

This evening, the Leipzig historian and expert on 19th-century US history, Dr Julius Wilm, will present a more nuanced view of Schurz's later positions, drawing on his new German book Ein deutscher Revolutionär im Amt: Carl Schurz und der Niedergang der Minderheitenrechte in den USA der 1870er-Jahre. As a US senator, Schurz fought against the protections of African-American civil rights in the southern states, which he had previously favored. As US secretary of the interior, he introduced a brutal policy of forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples and even ordered the starving of rebellious Indigenous people. These policies were not without alternatives and have not only been criticized "from today's perspective." The talk frames the presentation of Schurz's 1870s turn against equal minority rights with contemporary critiques by African-American and Indigenous commentators and white reformers.

This live-streamed lecture is a cooperation between American Studies Leipzig, the German-American Institute Saxony and the Carl-Schurz-Haus in Freiburg.

Learn more about the event and how to get ahold of the stream via the DAIS website 

The event will be in English.