Mon., Nov. 15

Thaddeus Stevens

Lecture: Origins and Goals of Radical Reconstruction

Recommended reading:

• Michael Les Benedict, "Preserving the Constitution: The Conservative Basis of Radical Reconstruction," Journal of American History 61 (June 1974): 65-90 (on JSTOR)
• Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, 55-147

Second Position Paper due

Wed., Nov. 17

Computer Lab: Selecting Topic for Second Research Project

Fri., Nov. 19

Video: Long Shadows

Mon., Nov. 22

Cotton sharecropping

Discussion: Forces of Change

• Roger L. Ransom and Richard Sutch, One Kind of Freedom, 1-13 (on ERes)
• Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, 148-179
• Edwards, Gendered Strife and Confusion, xi-xiii, 24-106, 145-183

Wed., Nov. 24

Drop-in session to discuss research projects (King 239)

Fri., Nov. 28

No class

Mon., Nov. 29

Discussion: Forces of Resistance

• Ransom and Sutch, One Kind of Freedom, 171-191 (on ERes)
• Foner, Short History of Reconstruction, 180-260
• Edwards, Gendered Strife and Confusion, 184-254

Wed., Dec. 1

Computer Lab: Great American History Machine

Fri., Dec.3

Video: Presenting Mr. Frederick Douglass

Mon., Dec. 6

Discussion of research reports

Second Research Report due

Second Research Reports due

Wed., Dec. 8

Discussion of research reports, continued

Video: Birth of a Nation

Discussion: Reconstruction in Comparative Perspective

• Thomas C. Holt, "'An Empire over the Mind': Emancipation, Race, and Ideology in the British West Indies and the American South," in J. Morgan Kousser and James M. McPherson, eds., Region, Race, and Reconstruction, 283-313 (on ERes)
• Steven Hahn, "Class and State in Postemancipation Societies: Southern Planters in Comparative Perspective," American Historical Review, 95 (Feb. 1990): 75-98 (on JSTOR)
• Stanley Engerman, "The Economic Response to Emancipation and Some Economic Aspects of the Meaning of Freedom," in Frank McGlynn and Seymour Drescher, The Meaning of Freedom, 49-68 (on ERes)

Thurs., Dec. 16

Final Paper due (optional--see Grading Options)