At Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln referred back to Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence in describing “a new birth of freedom.” Less than a year later, Nevada became a state. How were these people and events connected? This lecture will examine how Nevada reflects—and does not reflect—what Jefferson and Lincoln had in mind.

Michael Green is chair of the UNLV Department of History. He is the author of ”Nevada: A History of the Silver State” and several other works on Nevada, as well as books about the Civil War era, including ”Lincoln and the Election of 1860” and ”Lincoln and Native Americans.” He is the executive director of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association and Preserve Nevada, and writes “Nevada Yesterdays,” read by former U.S. Senator Richard Bryan for Nevada Public Radio.