National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

A Race Meeting at Jacksonville, Alabama (Proper), W. S. Hedges, British, 1831 - 1847, Birmingham Museum of Art

The First Pastime: Horse Racing in the Early 1800s

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has 29,000 items in our collection. We use those items to tell the stories of the past. You've already seen a few of those objects in the previous activities. Now, you'll have the chance to analyze these objects a little closer. In this activity, a moderator will select three objects from our collection. If you need some context, you might want to go back into the previous activities to refresh your memory. The moderator will place these objects onto a Venn diagram, and it'll be up to you to label the diagram. Once you do, you'll have the chance to defend your choice, and then the moderator will select a winner based on who had the best labels and the best explanation for them. The moderator will continue in different rounds until a winner is declared. You can play this game as individuals or as teams. The objects contain descriptions, so feel free to click on each to learn a bit more. Ready? Good luck!

Changing Times: Racing Before & After the War

How could a country founded on the principles of freedom permit the evils of slavery? Was war inevitable, or was there an alternative solution? Before diving into the course, it's important to outline the path America took to reach this point. This activity will catalogue the most important and notable events that would eventually snowball into the American Civil War. Discuss these events with your classmates, and analyze their significance on the war to come.

The Tragic Prelude: Events Leading Up to the Civil War

The Confederacy surrendered in 1865, bringing an end to the Civil War and restoring the Union. The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments banned slavery, defined citizenship, and outlawed discrimination in voting. These amendments form the bedrock of American democracy.

This escape room activity will test your knowledge of the people and horses who helped to forge America's postwar future. Click on the images, answer the questions, and find the secret code to escape the room. Good luck!

When the Dust Clears: What Remains After the War

With the Civil War's end, the face of racing changed. Freed slaves from the American South became professional equestrians in the sport. New names from the North became key players in the revitalized American racing scene, while important breeders from Kentucky continued their influence on the sport. In this slideshow, you'll find some of the colorful characters that helped to shape the future of horse racing in a reunited America. As you read, keep in mind the historical context of emancipation in a postwar America. Many of thoroughbred racing's biggest names were former slaves or the descendants of slaves, and you'll see that many of America's leading jockeys were black. Black athletes dominated the sport until Jim Crow laws gradually forced them out of racing by 1920, and the post-Civil War period was something of a "golden age" for black equestrians.

New Blood: The Key Figures of a Postwar Racing World

During the Civil War, horse racing was mostly suspended across the country, with a handful of exceptions. Horses were needed for the war effort, and some tracks were repurposed as army camps. Nevertheless, despite the hostilities, racing still continued in one form or another in certain parts of the country. However, it did mean that the sport had to adapt. Much of America's racing moved into the North and away from the frontline. Southern farms and plantations were routinely destroyed or occupied by Union forces, pushing the epicenter of racing further north. The South's stranglehold on the sport gradually vanished by the war's end, and the North became the new center of the sport. Examine this map of the United States to see some of the most notable events in horse racing during the war, and analyze how the sport adapted to the new situation. Click the circles to view different events. Colors indicate year. Purple: 1861/1862. Blue: 1863. Green: 1864. Red: 1965. Zoom in to see more.

Turf War: Horse Racing in Wartime

In the 1800s, horse racing was so popular that there were dozens if not hundreds of unique sporting newspapers and periodicals that focused solely on horse racing, Practically every single major city had at least one dedicated racing newsletter that reported on key races and celebrity racehorses. Below is an example of one of these periodicals: The Spirit of the Times. First published in 1831, The Spirit was one of the most prominent racing periodicals of the 1800s. This particular issue is from October of 1839. Beside it is an issue of the Los Angeles Times from October of 2017. Use the annotation tools here to compare and contrast the two newsletters. Read through each, looking for similarities and differences. These two newspaper were written nearly 180 years apart. Circle and connect key elements from both, and consider how horse racing in the 1800s was similar to major American sports coverage today. Feel free to zoom in and write notes upon this document, then discuss.

Sign of the Times: A Horse Racing Periodical

From America's inception, horse racing has been our most beloved national pastime. In the 1800s, a city wasn't truly a city until it had a racetrack. The equivalent of "water cooler conversation" back then was to discuss horses. Millions flocked to the turf annually to see talented thoroughbreds race for gold and glory.

This course will follow the trajectory of America's greatest sport during America's greatest national crisis. The American Civil War changed the face of the nation, and likewise, changed the sport forever. Racing historians split the sport into two distinct categories: pre-Civil War, and post-Civil War. In many ways, the history of horse racing mirrored the history of America itself. They were intertwined in a way that few sports are. How did this happen? What was racing like before the war, and how did it change? What were the key figures that made racing what it is today? Follow along during this journey through America's sport, and America's crisis.

From Track to Trench Educator Overview.pdf

From Track to Trench: Civil War on the Turf

U.S. History

Social Studies

The Constitutional Convention agrees to the three-fifths compromise, where every slave will count as three-fifths of a person for determining the population of states, and thus their political power in Congress. This gave southern states a disproportionate amount of political power relative to northern states, leading to lingering resentment.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, leading to a massive increase in cotton production across the south. This likewise leads to an increasing demand for slaves, and the enslaved population skyrockets.

The Cotton Gin

President James Monroe signs the Missouri Compromise, an act intended to balance the interests of slave states and free states by outlawing all slavery above the 36th parallel while allowing it below. This does not solve the issue of slavery, but instead kicks the can down the road in a series of increasingly fraught compromises that do little to resolve the root issue.

The Missouri Compromise

The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, is published for the first time. Newspapers like The Liberator demonstrated how abolitionist sentiment was becoming more common throughout the United States, and people were beginning to organize with the direct goal of ending slavery.

The Liberator

One of the largest slave rebellions in American history breaks out in Virginia. Though the rebellion was brutally suppressed by state militia, it scared southern states into thinking that other mass uprisings were possible, leading to increased crackdowns and hardening the institution of slavery.

Nat Turner's Rebellion 

Noted abolitionist and newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy is murdered in Illinois by a pro-slavery mob. Upon his death, he immediately became a martyr for the abolitionist cause, and details of his death sparked outrage across the north. Abolitionist sentiment skyrockets across the north, and Lovejoy is referred to as "the Civil War's first casualty."

Elijah P. Lovejoy

Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in two volumes over the course of 1852. The novel paints in vivid details the horrifying reality of slave life on southern plantations. The novel shocked America, and had a profound impact on attitudes towards slavery at the time. It was the best-selling book of the century and fueled abolitionist sentiment in America.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act, allowing states to vote for themselves on whether or not to allow slavery. This effectively ended the Missouri Compromise. Though lawmakers believed this would end the debate over slavery, it had the opposite effect. Northerners were outraged at the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the act led to horrible violence between pro- and anti-slavery settlers in the American west. The Act indirectly led to the rise of the Republican Party, and eventually, Abraham Lincoln.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Supreme Court rules that civil rights in the US Constitution do not extend to black people. While slaveholding states applaud the decision, it is widely derided in all other states. Considered to this day one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in American history, the Dred Scott case dramatically inflamed national tensions and deepened the divide that would eventually lead to the Civil War.

The Dred Scott Decision

Abolitionist John Brown and several supporters attempt to incite a slave rebellion in Virginia. Though unsuccessful, the crisis led the south to believe that their way of life and the institution of slavery was under severe threat. Southern slaveholders believed that northern agitators would continue attempting to incite rebellion until slavery was abolished. John Brown was hailed as a martyr and hero in the north, where he became an icon for the abolitionist cause.

The Harpers Ferry Raid

Abraham Lincoln is elected President as an outspoken abolitionist. Lincoln campaigned on ending the expansion of slavery, but also allowing it to continue in states where it already existed. Nevertheless, the election of an abolitionist was considered a bridge too far for the southern states, who were outraged at the prospect of being governed by someone so opposed to slavery.

The 1860 Presidential Election

South Carolina formally declares secession from the United States, the first of eleven states that would become the Confederacy. In their declaration, South Carolina decreed that their reason for secession was directly due to northern opposition to slavery and the election of Abraham Lincoln.

South Carolina Secedes

Delegates from the seceded states come together to form the Confederate States of America and elect Jefferson Davis as president. This Confederacy is not recognized as legitimate by the American government.

The Confederate States of America

Confederate troops fire upon Fort Sumter, beginning the American Civil War.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

From Track to Trench: Civil War on the Turf

The Tragic Prelude: Events Leading Up to the Civil War

1787 CE

1793 CE

1820 CE

1831 CE

1837 CE

1852 CE

1854 CE

1857 CE

1859 CE

1860 CE

1861 CE