The Heidlers can speak about a variety of specific aspects relating to society, culture, war, and politics in early 19th century America, including:
Contact for bookings: bookings@djheidler.com
- Andrew Jackson
- Fiery in his beliefs, fierce in the defense of them, loyal to his friends, and resolute in hatred toward his enemies, this complex man helped to characterize as well as to shape his time. The Heidlers address Jackson and his time through various aspects of his personal and public life. They have published extensively on Andrew Jackson, including a recent article for White House History on the 1829 inauguration.
- Civil War – Military, Political, and Social topics
- The worst episode in America history cost the nation more than six hundred thousand dead and countless others maimed, but it established what Lincoln called “a new birth of freedom.” The war as a defining moment in American history, the great and bloody dividing line between Then and Now, forms the basis for focused discussions of its military, economic, and social impact. The Heidlers are editors of the definitive and award-winning Encyclopedia of the American Civil War.
- Daily Life in the Early Republic
- The routines of ordinary Americans, both in and out of the mainstream, are explained with detailed descriptions of topics ranging from farming to apprenticeship to finance in the period spanning from 1790 to 1820. Drawing on research and findings that appeared in their recent book, the Heidlers show how Americans of that time were both different from and similar to our own.
- Election of 1800
- The third presidential contest in American history produced a frustrating stalemate between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The Heidlers examine both the colorful personalities of this story as well as the constitutional issues it raised.
- Southern Secession
- Before there was the Civil War there was the dire political crisis over slavery. The Heidlers explain how sectionalism became so unruly that it ultimately divided the nation and plunged it into catastrophic violence. David is the author of a book on this subject.
- First Seminole War
- In 1818, Andrew Jackson invaded Spanish Florida to chastise Indians there who had been raiding across the Georgia border. Instead of fulfilling that mission, he seized the province from Spain and set up a provisional American government, all in direct disobedience to his orders. Basing the talk on their book Old Hickory’s War, the Heidlers examine both the campaign and the constitutional implications it raised regarding civil control of the military.
- Indian Removal
- This sad and shameful chapter in American history receives a thorough treatment in a talk that traces the origins of the policy as well as the consequences of its implementation, especially for the southeastern Indians who were moved, sometimes forcibly, west of the Mississippi River. The Heidlers are the authors of a new book on this subject.
- Jefferson’s Diplomacy
- From the triumph of the Louisiana Purchase to the failure of commercial measures in curbing British and French wartime policies, the period revealed both the young republic’s limitations and potential for greatness. The Heidlers place these events into the larger setting of world events largely shaped by Napoleon Bonaparte leading seemingly invincible armies and the British Royal Navy with its global reach and imposing warships.
- Lewis and Clark
- The Corps of Discovery’s epic journey is explained from the perspective of impending expansion and national aspirations.
- Manifest Destiny
- The term was coined in the 1840s to describe what seemed to be America’s ordained fate to control the continent, but drawing on the research for their recent book about this subject, the Heidlers show how the forces that apparently culminated in the conquest of Mexico were part of the American experience from the earliest days of colonization.
- Lincoln as War Leader
- The Heidlers examine Lincoln through the lens of military and political necessity to explain how his background and temperament as a war leader were formed by his training and experience as a lawyer.
- Lincoln Assassination
- At the moment of Union triumph and with the difficult political ordeal of Reconstruction looming, President Abraham Lincoln was mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth. The Heidlers trace the course of the assassination conspiracy and conclude with a vivid description of the fears, uncertainties, and tragedy that unfolded the night Lincoln was shot.
- John Wilkes Booth and Popular Culture
- Lincoln’s assassin is examined from a biographical perspective with special attention to perceptions of him before and after he shot the president in Ford’s Theater. The Heidlers show how Booth the man became Booth the symbol for subsequent generations of Americans, a symptom of the growing cult of celebrity that delineates much of modern popular culture.
- Louisiana Purchase
- A more focused discussion than that which occurs in “Jefferson’s Diplomacy,” this talk explains the reasons for the Purchase as well as the method by which the most incredible real estate bargain in modern history occurred.
- Mexican War
- The Heidlers explain the causes and trace the progress of the war that won for the United States the Southwest and California. Heroes and villains populate a talk that includes, like their book on the war, an unblinking analysis of both American and Mexican motives in this pivotal event.
- Nullification
- This attempt by South Carolina in 1832 to negate federal authority to enforce tariff laws in the state caused a first-rate constitutional crisis and nearly brought the country to civil war. But the Heidlers show it had even greater long-term implications, for Nullification was also an attempt to establish a state’s authority to protect slavery.
- Presidential Elections
- Each of the quadrennial contests has its own story. The Heidlers tell those stories by bringing to life the vibrant personalities and unique issues that drove the various candidates and the way the art of campaigning has changed to include the thoughtful contemplation of issues as well as the foolish employment of hoopla.
- Slavery Controversy
- Slavery posed a thorny problem for Americans who saw it as a constitutional quandary relating to property rights, as an economic necessity dictated by labor intensive cotton agriculture in the South, as a social issue caused by the need to control large populations of incipiently rebellious helots, and as a moral imperative that required emancipation to square American reality with the American promise of liberty. The Heidlers explain all these aspects and show how ultimately the political failure to reconcile these varied perspectives led to war.
- Stephen A. Douglas and the 1860 Democratic Party
- The critical moment in the political fortunes of the pre-Civil War Democratic Party occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, at the 1860 nominating convention. The Heidlers show how efforts to stop frontrunner Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas from obtaining the nomination split the party and set the stage for Lincoln’s election.
- The Burr Conspiracy
- A multimedia presentation that places Aaron Burr’s shadowy plans to establish a separate American nation into the framework of national politics and continental exploration.
- War of 1812
- Possibly the least understood war in American history is explained in a comprehensive examination of its causes, course, and conclusion. The Heidlers are editors of an encyclopedia of the war as well as authors of a book that examines its causes and consequences.
- Election of 1824
- This controversial election saw popular vote winner Andrew Jackson ultimately lose the contest to John Quincy Adams when the House of Representatives made the choice amidst charges of corrupt bargains and blatant partisanship. The Heidlers share insights into this important election born of years of research they will soon publish as a major book.