We are excited to present for the first time our Leadership in American History Symposium & New Orleans Tour February 24-March 3, 2018, a year that marks the 300th anniversary of the City of New Orleans. Our historians, experts in their field of study and published authors, will be speaking and leading discussions on the role leadership has played throughout history. They will cover the Revolutionary War, Battle of New Orleans, American Civil War, WWII, WWI, and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
To give you an idea of what you can expect from our historians, following are the abstracts for the lectures on Lewis and Clark, the Revolutionary War and the Battle of New Orleans.
Lecture: Leadership Styles of Lewis and Clark
Historian: Hal Stearns
We are truly fascinated with the leadership and vision of Jefferson and his remarkable commanders Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and the Corps to the Northwest. Leadership: Wow! The Commander-in-Chief was on the 1804-06 journey in spirit every single day. And the leaders, Lewis, quiet, pensive and the scientist, and Clark, the military commander and great cartographer, took on the amazing mission to “discover, locate and explore.” Our greatest land reconnaissance in our rich history. What a team! There is no higher calling than to lead and no piece of our past exemplifes it more than the magical time between1800 and1806.
Lecture: Jefferson’s Vision & the Louisiana Purchase
Historian: Hal Stearns
Thomas Jefferson had a great vision for the brand new republic that was far-reaching and he had an unquenchable curiosity about the West. Buying Louisiana in 1803 would double our size. Some saw the purchase as unconstitutional, others as impossible or nuts. But, we buy it!
Lecture: Road to the Revolutionary War
Historian: Rick Beyer
A presentation about the events leading up to the first day of the Revolution, and the outbreak of fighting in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Why did the war start on that day in that place? It’s a riveting story more than a dozen years in the making that includes leaders everyone knows, such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and British General Thomas Gage –- as well as key players most people have never heard of. Based on research done for the book First Shot: The Day the Revolution Began and other projects done for the Lexington MA Historical Society.
Lecture: The Battle of New Orleans: Reality and Revisionism
Historian: Ron Drez
It was the climactic battle that guaranteed the U.S. doctrine of Manifest Destiny. It was anticipated to have been an overwhelming British victory, and turned out to be the most lopsided defeat of an opponent ever in the annals of military history. Historians got it right for the first 100 years, but then it became the subject of a late-blooming breed of “proclamation” historians who abandoned research to write bad history.
