OBERLIN COLLEGE

Department of History

Gary Kornblith	History 263
King 141-G; x8526	Fall 1997
E-mail: Gary.Kornblith@oberlin.edu

The American Civil War and Reconstruction

The dynamic version of this syllabus is located at <http://www.oberlin.edu/~history/H263.htm>.

Less than a century after fighting for independence from Great Britain and establishing a federal republic, Americans turned their firearms on each other in the bloodiest war in the nation's history. At the end of hostitilities, over 600,000 soldiers lay dead while approximately 4,000,000 former slaves enjoyed legal freedom for the first time. Thereafter Americans struggled to reorganize their society and redefine their polity in response to the changes wrought by the Civil War's violence and to the conflicts enduring in peace.

This course focuses on three interrelated subjects: the causes of the Civil War; the processes of war and emancipation; and the outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In exploring these topics, we will employ a variety of analytical methods and consider a wide range of scholarly interpretations. Students are expected to draw their own conclusions and make their own judgments about the meaning and significance of events that continue to provoke popular passions and intellectual controversy more than a century after they occurred.

Format: The class meets regularly on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 2:20 pm and on Fridays from 12:30 to 2:20 pm. In general, Mondays will be devoted to group discussions of the assigned readings; Wednesdays will be devoted to historical research and analysis using computers; and Fridays will involve watching and discussing segments of Ken Burns' nine-part documentary on the Civil War and other videos.

Evaluation: Students will be graded on the basis of classroom participation, three short position papers (2 pages each), computer lab exercises, and two longer essays (8-10 pages each). The normal formula for determining final grades will be 10% for each position paper, 25% for each essay, 10% for computer lab exercises, and 10% for class participation. The instructor reserves the right to exercise some discretion in assigning final grades.

Purchases: The following books are available at the Co-op Bookstore. All but the volume by McPherson are required.

Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ed. David W. Blight
John Ashworth, Slavery, Capitalism and Politics in the Antebellum Republic, vol. 1
Robert W. Fogel, Without Consent or Contract
Michael F. Holt, The Political Crisis of the 1850s
Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men
Gabor S. Boritt, ed., Why the Civil War Came
Don E. Fehrenbacher, ed., Abraham Lincoln
Ira Berlin et al., ed., Free at Last
Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of Invention
Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction, 1863-1877
Julie Saville, The Work of Reconstruction
James M. McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution (recommended)

The Coming of the Civil War

Wed., Sept. 3	Introduction
Fri., Sept. 5 Frederick Douglass	Discussion: Frederick Douglass on the Slave Experience Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 39-115, 134-145

Mon., Sept. 8 "Weight Negro Cotton made in 1858." William Law Papers. Special Collections Library, Duke University.	Discussion: Slavery and Capitalism Ashworth, Slavery, Capitalism and Politics in the Antebellum Republic, ix-x, 1-15, 80-108, 113-121, 192-228, 280-285 Fogel, Without Consent or Contract, 9-113 Questions
Wed., Sept. 10	Computer Lab: "Valley of the Shadow" Lab assignment
Fri., Sept. 12	Video: "The Civil War," episode 1 First Position Paper due

Mon., Sept. 15	Discussion: Sectionalism and the Second Party System Holt,, Political Crisis of the 1850s, ix-xii, 1-66 Fogel, Without Consent or Conflict, 254-280 Ashworth, Slavery, Capitalism and Politics in the Antebellum Republic, 125-191, 289-365 Questions
Wed., Sept. 17	Computer Lab: "Valley of the Shadow"
Fri., Sept. 19	Video: "The Civil War," episode 2

Mon., Sept. 22 Stephen A. Douglas	Discussion: Collapse of the Second Party System Holt, Political Crisis of the 1850s, 67-181 Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men, 1-72 William E. Gienapp, "The Crisis of American Democracy: The Political System and the Coming of the Civil War," in Boritt, ed., Why the Civil War Came, 79-124 Questions
Wed., Sept. 24	Computer Lab: Great American History Machine Assignment
Fri., Sept. 26	Video: "The Civil War," episode 3 Second Position Paper due

Mon., Sept. 29 Abraham Lincoln	Discussion: The Republican Party's Appeal Holt, Political Crisis of the 1850s, 183-217 Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men, 261-317 Fehrenbacher, ed., Abraham Lincoln, 81-117, 119-128, 132-143 Questions
Wed., Oct. 1	Computer Lab: Great American History Machine Assignment
Fri., Oct. 3	Video: "The Civil War," episode 4

Mon., Oct. 6 Fort Sumter after surrender	Discussion: Secession and the Outbreak of War Holt, Political Crisis of the 1850s, 219-259 David W. Blight, "They Knew What Time It Was: African Americans and the Coming of the Civil War," in Boritt, ed., Why the Civil War Came, 51-77 William W. Freehling, "The Divided South, Democracy's Limitations, and the Causes of the Peculiarly North American Civil War," in ibid., 125-175 Mark Wahlgren Summers, "'Freedom and Law Must Die Ere They Sever': The North and the Coming of the Civil War," in ibid., 177-200 Questions
Wed., Oct. 8	Computer Lab: Great American History Machine
Fri., Oct. 10	Video: "The Civil War," episode 5

Mon., Oct. 13	Discussion: The Debate over Inevitability Review assigned readings to date
Wed., Oct. 15	Computer Lab: Great American History Machine
Fri., Oct. 17	No class First Longer Essay due

War and Emancipation

Mon., Oct. 27

Lincoln at Antietam, Oct. 1862

Discussion: Lincoln's Logic and Vision

Fehrenbacher, ed., Abraham Lincoln, 150-160, 163-170, 172-181, 188-189, 192-196, 202-209, 210-213, 223-228, 231-236, 238-242, 244-258, 267-274, 277-279

Questions

Wed., Oct. 29

Fri., Oct. 31

Video: "The Civil War," episode 6

Mon., Nov. 3

Emancipation Day Celebration

Discussion: The Dynamics of Emancipation

Berlin, et al., Free at Last, ix-xviii, 3-166, 435-539
James M. McPherson, "Who Freed the Slaves?" Reconstruction, vol 2, no. 3 (1994): 35-40 [on reserve]
Ira Berlin, "Emancipation and Its Meaning in American Life," ibid., 41-44 [on reserve]
Questions

Wed., Nov. 5

Computer Lab: Selected Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress

Exercises

Fri., Nov. 7

Videos: "The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry," "The Civil War," episode 7

Mon., Nov. 10

Hospital Ward, Washington, D.C.

Discussion: Women and War

Faust, Mothers of Invention, xi-xiii, 2-29, 53-152, 196-219, 234-254
Recommended: Jeanie Attie, "Warwork and theCrisis of Domesticity in the North," in Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber, eds., Divided Houses, 247-259 [on reserve]
Questions

Wed., Nov. 12

Computer Lab: Demonstration of HarpWeek by Susan Severtson

Fri., Nov. 14

Video: "The Civil War," episode 8

Third Position Paper due

Reconstruction

Mon., Nov. 17 Thaddeus Stevens	Discussion: Origins and Goals of Radical Reconstruction Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, 55-123 Michael Les Benedict, "Preserving the Constitution: The Conservative Basis of Radical Reconstruction," Journal of American History 61 (June 1974): 65-90 [on reserve] Ellen Carol DuBois, "Outgrowing the Compact of the Fathers: Equal Rights, Woman Suffrage, and the United States Constitution, 1820-1878," Journal of American History 74 (Dec. 1987): 836-862 [on reserve] Questions
Wed., Nov. 19	Computer Lab: Great American History Machine Lab assignment
Fri., Nov. 21	Video: "The Civil War," episode 9

Mon., Nov. 24	Discussion: Black Power and White Reaction Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, 124-198 Saville, The Work of Reconstruction, 1-101 Questions
Wed., Nov. 26	Video: "Long Shadows"
Fri., Nov. 28	No class

Mon., Dec. 1 Cotton sharecropping	Discussion: A Social Revolution? Saville, The Work of Reconstruction, 102-198 Jay R. Mandle, "Black Economic Entrapment after Emancipation in the United States," in Frank McGlynn and Seymour Drescher, eds., The Meaning of Freedom, 49-68 [on reserve] McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution, 3-22, 131-152 [recommended purchase and on reserve] Questions
Wed., Dec. 3	Computer Lab: Great American History Machine
Fri., Dec. 5	Video: "Presenting Mr. Frederick Douglass"

Mon., Dec. 8	Discussion: Reconstruction in Historical Perspective Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, 199-260 Barbara J. Fields, "Ideology and Race in American History," in J. Morgan Kousser and James M. McPherson, eds., Region, Race, and Reconstruction, 143-176 [on reserve] Steven Hahn, "Class and State in Postemancipation Societies: Southern Planters in Comparative Perspective," American Historical Review, 95 (Feb. 1990): 75-98 [on reserve] Questions
Wed., Dec. 10	Discussion: The Meaning of the American Civil War Review assigned readings to date
Sun., Dec. 14	Second Longer Essay due

Mon., Oct. 27 Lincoln at Antietam, Oct. 1862	Discussion: Lincoln's Logic and Vision Fehrenbacher, ed., Abraham Lincoln, 150-160, 163-170, 172-181, 188-189, 192-196, 202-209, 210-213, 223-228, 231-236, 238-242, 244-258, 267-274, 277-279 Questions
Wed., Oct. 29
Fri., Oct. 31	Video: "The Civil War," episode 6

Mon., Nov. 3 Emancipation Day Celebration	Discussion: The Dynamics of Emancipation Berlin, et al., Free at Last, ix-xviii, 3-166, 435-539 James M. McPherson, "Who Freed the Slaves?" Reconstruction, vol 2, no. 3 (1994): 35-40 [on reserve] Ira Berlin, "Emancipation and Its Meaning in American Life," ibid., 41-44 [on reserve] Questions
Wed., Nov. 5	Computer Lab: Selected Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress Exercises
Fri., Nov. 7	Videos: "The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry," "The Civil War," episode 7

Mon., Nov. 10 Hospital Ward, Washington, D.C.	Discussion: Women and War Faust, Mothers of Invention, xi-xiii, 2-29, 53-152, 196-219, 234-254 *Recommended:* Jeanie Attie, "Warwork and theCrisis of Domesticity in the North," in Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber, eds., Divided Houses, 247-259 [on reserve] Questions
Wed., Nov. 12	Computer Lab: Demonstration of HarpWeek by Susan Severtson
Fri., Nov. 14	Video: "The Civil War," episode 8 Third Position Paper due