A New History of Life

Life is stranger than fiction. Recent investigations hint at episodes in the history of life on Earth that rival the most imaginative movies. For example: Could our planet have been seeded with life from elsewhere? Did the development of life create conditions that threatened to poison the biosphere? How have natural forces conspired, over and over, to remove most traces of life from the planet? And how has life itself responded with determination to survive and thrive in a multitude of astonishing forms?

Key Points of Learning: 01. How British Anglicanism came to be replaced in the South by evangelical Christianity. 02. Trace the rise of abolitionism and antislavery societies, and the violent backlash of anti-abolitionists. 03. Investigate the vibrant musical culture of the postbellum South and the African musical elements that converged in the birth of ragtime and jazz, as well as the evolution of blues, country music, and gospel. The American South holds a special place in the minds of people around the world. The South’s extraordinarily colorful and dramatic history, its competing narratives of prosperity and cruelty, its role in the American Civil War, and its influence on the emerging conception of human rights are, for many, the stuff of legend.