History 367
The American Civil War
Professor Hugh Dubrulle
University of Puget Sound
Spring 2001
Themes of the Course
In this course, we will investigate the origins, conduct, and consequences
of the American Civil War. To make sense of the conflict, we will spend the
first six weeks of the semester surveying the political, social, economic,
and cultural factors that accounted for increasing tension within the Union
and how they accounted for its disintegration. As we study the war, we will
look at the ongoing debate in both sections over war aims, how these aims
changed over time, and how successful each side was at achieving them. Along
the way, we will pursue the following themes that have featured prominently
in Civil War historiography: the character of slavery; the role played by
slavery in precipitating the conflict; the social and political divisions
that plagued both North and South; the role of nationalism in both sections;
the war as a vehicle for social and political change; the reasons for the
Confederacy's demise; the place the conflict assumed in the general
development in warfare; and the character of Reconstruction.
Required Readings
James M. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire (textbook)
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American
Slave
Sam Watkins, Co. Aytch: A Confederate's Memoir of the Civil War
James M. McPherson, What They Fought For
Web Documents (Primary Sources Posted on the Course Website)
Coursepack
Viewings
You are required to view both of these movies and write a short homework
assignment on each.
Glory (1989) (Thursday, April 4, 7PM, Wyatt 109)
Gone with the Wind (1939) (Thursday, April 25, 7PM, Wyatt 109)
Student Requirements and Assignments
My Policy regarding Academic Honesty
To fulfill its mission, a university must demand honesty from all its
members. If you wish to understand more fully what honesty requires of you
both inside and outside the classroom, please consult the "Academic Honesty"
section of The Logger. Any violation of the rules set out in this section
constitutes a grave matter. If I detect such a violation on your part, I
reserve the right to inflict any punishment I deem necessary-from a zero on
a particular assignment to an F for the class.
Collegiality (15%):
This grade depends on your class participation and your leadership of class
discussion.
Class Participation (10%): I will base your class participation grade on
the frequency and quality of your contribution to classroom discussion.
Positive contributions consist not merely of answering the professor's
questions. They also include:
* Asking questions concerning the reading, the discussion, or the
class in general
* Challenging what either the professor or your peers have said
* Making pertinent observations of all sorts
* Using office hours
* Displaying a positive attitude toward learning and the course
Furthermore, if you are a student, your job consists of learning. I expect
you to come to class prepared to learn.
· Come to class having completed the readings assigned for that day
(including the textbook readings).
· If we are scheduled to discuss a book or an excerpt out of the
coursepack, bring the reading to class so that you can refer to it.
· Bring the textbook to class.
· Also, please arrive on time if not a little early. If you must
leave class early, let me know in advance.
Remember, if you are not attending class, you are not participating.
My rule of thumb for class participation grades is as follows:
If you attend and participate regularly, you will receive an A.
If you attend regularly but never participate, you will receive a C.
If your attendance and participation fall between an A and C, you will
receive a B.
If you attend irregularly and never participate, you will receive a D.
Leading Class Discussion (5%): I have set aside ten particular topics-each
on a specific day-in which groups consisting of two students will lead
classroom discussion. I will circulate a sign-up sheet in class. Sign up as
soon as possible for the topic of your choice. If you have not volunteered
for a discussion by the end of class on Tuesday, January 29, I will assign
you one at random.
Although circumstances will vary according to the topic, I expect you to
relate the sources to the themes of the course. As you plan the discussion,
feel free to employ some creativity.
For this assignment, not only will you be responsible for leading
discussion, but you will also be required to produce a Food for Thought
homework assignment for your peers in the class. Furthermore, your grade on
this assignment will depend not only on my evaluation of your presentation,
but on the opinion of your fellow students. After each presentation, I will
ask your peers to provide a short written assessment of your performance,
which I will forward to you with my own comments. I will provide more
information about this assignment on the website. Here are your options:
· Thursday, February 7: The Mexican-American War
· Tuesday, February 12: The Ostend Manifesto
· Thursday, February 14: The Kansas-Nebraska Act
· Thursday, February 14: Bleeding Kansas
· Tuesday, February 26: John Brown's Raid
· Tuesday, February 26: The Election of 1860
· Tuesday, April 9: The Origins of Reconstruction
· Tuesday, April 16: Southern Women and the Confederate Home Front
· Tuesday, April 23: The Confederate Debate over Arming Black Slaves
· Thursday, May 2: The Retreat from Reconstruction and the Compromise
of 1877
Food for Thought Reading Assignments (20%):
For almost every class meeting, I will assign you a series of questions that
will help you understand the readings. You must provide short written
responses to these questions that appear in the "Food for Thought" section
of the website. These written responses are due in class on the day we
discuss the readings to which they pertain-no exceptions. If you are not in
class, you will not get credit for the assignment that day.
Final Paper (40%):
Over the course of the semester, you will produce a number of assignments
associated with a final paper-a "what if" paper, known in the history
business as "counterfactual history." I will provide more details about the
following assignments associated with this final paper. You must complete
all of these assignments to obtain a passing grade.
* Selection of Topic (due Tuesday, January 29): First come, first
served. If you have not selected a topic by January 29, I will select one
for you. If you would like to create your own topic, feel free to do so. You
must, however, run it by me by January 29. You can choose from the
following:
o What if Winfield Scott's drive on Mexico City had failed, and
the Mexican-American War had ended in a draw?
o What if the Democratic Party had successfully reached a
compromise and not broken in two in 1860?
o What if McDowell's Federal army had won the First Battle of Bull
Run in 1861?
o What if the Confederates had allowed the Federal garrison to
abandon Fort Sumter due to lack of supplies-instead of opening fire on the
post?
o What if the Federal government had not given up Mason and
Slidell to the British government during the Trent affair?
o What if McCellan had defeated and destroyed Lee's army outside
of Richmond in July 1862?
o What if Ulysses S. Grant had gotten killed at Shiloh?
o What if Robert E. Lee had become the commander of the Army of
Mississippi (later known as the Army of Tennessee) in June 1862 instead of
the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia?
o What if the British government had successfully organized a
European offer to mediate the Civil War in November 1862?
o What if Robert E. Lee's heart attack of December 1862 had proven
fatal?
o What if Private B.W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana had not found
Robert E. Lee's lost dispatch, "Special Orders No. 191" four days before the
battle of Antietam?
o What if Stonewall Jackson had not been accidentally shot by his
own men at Chancellorsville?
o What if Robert E. Lee had pursued operations differently at
Gettysburg and won?
o What if Jefferson Davis had not replaced Joseph Johnston with
John Bell Hood in 1864?
o What if the Confederate government had followed Patrick
Cleburne's suggestion and armed black slaves in 1864?
o What if Lincoln had died just before the election of 1864?
o What if the Democrats had put together a "war" platform for the
election of 1864?
o What if John Wilkes Booth had fallen off his horse and fractured
his skull on the night he set out to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln?
o What if Robert E. Lee had committed the Army of Northern
Virginia to guerrilla warfare instead of surrendering at Appomattox?
o What if the Senate had convicted President Andrew Johnson?
o What if Rutherford B. Hayes had won the election of 1876
outright?
* Tentative Proposal (5%) (due Tuesday, February 12): This assignment
will require you to submit a series of questions that your essay will have
to address-as well as any preliminary answers you have reached on these
questions.
* Bibliography (5%) (due Tuesday, February 26): The bibliography will
consist of a list of works you intend to use for your project.
* Prospectus (5%) (due Tuesday, March 5): This assignment will consist
of two parts. First, you will provide more specific answers to the questions
you provided in your tentative proposal. Second, you will have to review a
fellow student's propectus and grade it just as I would. I will grade both
your prospectus and your review.
* Draft (10%) (due Tuesday, April 16): In this case, you will have to
write a draft of your essay and grade a fellow student's draft.
* Final Paper (15%) (due Tuesday, May 7): Consists of your final paper.
There are no exceptions to the May 7 deadline.
Extensions: I will grant NO extensions on or after the due date. I will
provide an extension only if:
o You produce a doctor's note indicating you are physically
incapable of finishing the assignment on time.
o You produce a note from one of your parents indicating you
suffered a death in your immediate family.
Turning in Assignments: I will not accept paper assignments submitted to me
via e-mail. You must give the assignment to me in person on the day it is
due-before I leave campus.
Late Assignments: Late assignments will suffer a penalty of 10% for each
day they are late. Thus, a B- assignment turned in a day late will become a
C- assignment. The meter runs on weekends just as on weekdays. If an
assignment is due on a Friday, it will be one day late on Saturday (10%
off), two days late on Sunday (20% off), and three days late on Monday (30%
off). The meter also keeps running during holidays and breaks. It is your
responsibility to get the assignment to me in such a manner that I can
verify you completed it by a certain time.
Completing Assignments and Obtaining a Passing Grade: You must obtain a
passing grade on ALL paper assignments to pass the class. In other words, if
you turn in a C assignment (75%) two days late (20% penalty), you will get
an F (55%) for the assignment and fail the course.
Examinations (25%):
Both examinations in this class will consist exclusively of essay questions.
* Midterm Examination (10%): This examination will take place on
Thursday, March 14.
* Final Examination (15%): This examination will take place on Thursday,
May 16, 8:00AM-10:00AM.
Everyone must take the examinations at the assigned time-no exceptions.
Schedule
WEEK 1
Tuesday, January 22
Topics of Discussion:
What This Class is About
The Political Foundations of the United States
Readings:
James M. McPherson, "If the Lost Order Hadn't Been Lost: Robert E. Lee
Humbles the Union, 1862"
The Declaration of Independence (1776)
The Constitution of the United States of America (1787)
The Bill of Rights (1791)
Thursday, January 24
Topics of Discussion:
A Sketch of Sectionalism from the Constitutional Convention to the Missouri
Compromise
Northern Modernization and Sectionalism
Readings:
William Freehling, "The Founding Fathers and Slavery"
Thomas Jefferson's "Firebell in the Night" Letter (1820)
Edward Pressen, "How Different from Each Other Were the Antebellum North and
South?"
James M. McPherson, "Southern Exceptionalism: A New Look at an Old Question"
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 5-26
WEEK 2
Tuesday, January 29
Topics of Discussion:
The Southern Economy
Southern Society
Readings:
Excerpts from Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman, Time on the Cross: The
Economics of American Negro Slavery
Excerpts from Eugene Genovese, The Political Economy of Slavery
Statistics from the U.S. Census of 1860
Table of U.S. Exports for 1859
Slaves and Slaveholders by State (1860)
"The Role of the Plain Folk," from Frank Owsley, Plain Folk of the Old South
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Eugene Genovese, "The Yeomen and Planter
Hegemony"
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 27-42
Thursday, January 31
Topics of Discussion:
The Character of Slavery: War or Paternalism?
Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Readings:
Excerpts from Frederick Law Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom
Eugene Genovese, "Paternalism and Slave Culture"
Kenneth Stampp, "To Make Them Stand in Fear"
Drew Gilpin Faust, "Culture, Conflict, and Community: The Meaning of Power
on an Ante-Bellum Plantation"
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
WEEK 3
Tuesday, February 5
Topics of Discussion:
Abolitionism
The Defense of Slavery
Readings:
William Lloyd Garrison, "No Union with Slaveholders"
Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Speech
Excerpts from David Walker's "Appeal"
Excerpts from Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
George Fitzhugh "Sociology for the South"
Excerpts from George Fitzhugh, Cannibals All! or Slaves without Masters
James Henry Hammond, "The Mudsill Speech" (a.k.a. "Cotton is King" Speech)
(1858)
John C. Calhoun, "Slavery a Positive Good" Speech
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 43-58
Thursday, February 7
Topics of Discussion:
The Mexican-American War
The Compromise of 1850
Readings:
Henry Clay Opposes the Mexican-American War (1847)
John L. O'Sullivan Promotes "Manifest Destiny" (1845)
John C. Calhoun's Speech on the Compromise of 1850 (March 4, 1850)
Daniel Webster, "Seventh of March" Speech (March 7, 1850)
William Henry Seward, "Higher Law" Speech (March 11, 1850)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 58-77
WEEK 4
Tuesday, February 12
Topics of Discussion:
Southern Expansionism
The Rise of Nativism
Readings:
Ostend Manifesto (1854)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 79-94
Thursday, February 14
Topics of Discussion:
Repealing the Missouri Compromise: The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas
Readings:
Abraham Lincoln on the Kansas-Nebraska Act (October 16, 1854)
Charles Sumner,"Crime Against Kansas" Speech (1856)
Preston Brooks Defends His Assault on Charles Sumner (1856)
Preston Brooks Appeals to His Constituents in the South Carolinian (July 18,
1856)
Press Reaction to Sumner's Beating (1856)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 95-108
WEEK 5
Tuesday, February 19
Topics of Discussion:
The Dred Scott Decision
The Destruction of the Second Party System and the Rise of the Republican
Party
Readings:
Abraham Lincoln,"House Divided" Speech (June 16, 1858)
Stephen Douglas on Dred Scott (July 9 and July 17, 1858)
Press Reaction to the Dred Scott Decision (1858)
William Geinapp, "Nativism and the Creation of a Republican Majority in the
North before the Civil War"
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 109-124
Thursday, February 21
Topics of Discussion:
Free Labor Ideology and Its Critique of the South
The North and South Contemplate One Another
Readings:
Excerpts from Eric Foner in Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men
Excerpts from J. E. Cairnes, The Slave Power; Its Career, Character and
Probable Designs (1863)
William Henry Seward,"Irrepressible Conflict" Speech (October 25, 1858)
James Henry Hammond,"Cotton is King" Speech (1858)
WEEK 6
Tuesday, February 26
Topics of Discussion:
John Brown's Raid
The Election of 1860
Readings:
John Brown's Final Address to the Court (November 2, 1859)
Editorials on John Brown's Raid (1859)
Republican National Platform of 1860
Democratic Platform of 1860 (Douglas Faction)
Democratic Platform of 1860 (Breckinridge Faction)
Constitutional Union Party Platform of 1860
Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 125-138
Thursday, February 28
Topic of Discussion:
The Incomplete, Conservative Revolution: The Secession Movement
Readings:
Robert Toombs' Speech to the Georgia Legislature (November 13, 1860)
Alexander Stephens' Speech to the Georgia Legislature (November 14, 1860)
Alexander Stephens, "Cornerstone Speech" (March 21, 1861)
Jefferson Davis' Inaugural Speech (February 18, 1861)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 139-177
WEEK 7
Tuesday, March 5
Topics of Discussion:
A New Kind of War
North vs. South: A Comparison of Aims and Means
Readings:
James M. McPherson, What They Fought For
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 179-226
Thursday, March 7
Topics of Discussion:
1861: Amateurs at War
1862: Amateurs to Veterans
Readings:
Excerpts from Carlton McCarthy, Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life
Winfield Scott to George B. McClellan on the Anaconda Plan (1861)
George B. McClellan's Memorandum to President Lincoln (July 7, 1862)
Excerpts from Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs (1885)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 227-282
WEEK 8
Tuesday, March 12
Topics of Discussion:
Fighting a Civil War Battle: Antietam/Sharpsburg
Northern Politics and Slavery: The Emancipation Proclamation and the
Elections of 1862
Readings:
Robert E. Lee Letter to Jefferson Davis (September 3, 1862)
Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863)
Horace Greeley's "The Prayer of the Twenty Millions" (August 19, 1862) and
Lincoln's Response (August 22, 1862)
General George B. McClellan's General Order No. 163 on the Emancipation
Proclamation (October 7, 1862)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 283-324
Thursday, March 14: MIDTERM EXAMINATION
SPRING RECESS (March 18-March 22)
WEEK 9
Tuesday, March 25
Topics of Discussion:
Civil Liberties in North and South
The Possibility of Foreign Intervention
Readings:
Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Erastus Corning (June 12, 1863)
Lord John Russell's Memorandum on British Intervention (October 13, 1862)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 325-348
Thursday, March 27
Topics of Discussion:
The Turning Point of the War: Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga
The Naval War
Reading:
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 349-372
WEEK 10
Tuesday, April 2
Topics of Discussion:
Northern Political Divisions
Black Americans and the Federal War Effort
Readings:
Edwin Stanton to Brigadier General Saxton (August 25, 1862)
Letter from a Black Soldier to Abraham Lincoln (September 28, 1863)
"The Negro as a Soldier," from Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Army Life in a
Black Regiment
Charles Graham Halpine, "Sambo's Right to be Kilt" (1862)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 373-388
Thursday, April 4
Topics of Discussion:
The New York Draft Riots
States' Rights, Confederate Nationalism, and Southern Discontent
Readings:
Resolution Passed by the General Assembly of Georgia Declaring the Late Act
of Congress for the Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus Unconstitutional
(March 19, 1864)
Georgia Governor Joe Brown's Correspondence with Jefferson Davis on the
Conscription Act (April 22, April 29, May 9, 1862)
Governor Zebulon Vance's Message to the General Assembly of North Carolina
(May 17, 1864)
Confederate Bill To Suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus (November 10, 1864)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 388-398
WEEK 11
Tuesday, April 9
Topics of Discussion:
The Economic Consequences of the Civil War for the North
The Origins of Reconstruction
Readings:
Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 8,
1863)
Wade-Davis Bill (July 8, 1864)
Abraham Lincoln's Response to the Wade-Davis Bill (July 8, 1864)
Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction Speech (April 11, 1865)
American Freedmen's Inquiry Commission Report (June 30, 1863)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 399-416, 425-442
Thursday, April 11
Topics of Discussion:
1864: The Killing Time
Was the Civil War a Total War?
Readings:
Ulysses S. Grant's Plan for the Spring Offensive of 1864
Mark Neely, "Was the Civil War a Total War?"
James M. McPherson, "From Limited to Total War in America"
William T. Sherman's Letter to the Mayor and City Council of Atlanta
(September 12, 1864)
Exchange of Letters between William T. Sherman and John Bell Hood (September
7, 1864-September 14, 1862)
Sherman's Orders for the March through Georgia (November 9, 1864)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 443-470
WEEK 12
Tuesday, April 16
Topics of Discussion:
Southern Women and the Confederate Home Front
The Election of 1864
Readings:
Excerpts from Kate Stone, Brockenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone, 1861-1868
Democratic Party Platform of 1864
Republican Party Platform of 1864
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 471-514
Thursday, April 18
Topics of Discussion:
The Death Throes of the Confederacy
Co. Aytch
Readings:
Excerpts from E.P. Alexander, The Military Memoirs of a Confederate
Sam Watkins, Co. Aytch
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 514-526
WEEK 13
Tuesday, April 23
Topics of Discussion:
The Confederate Debate over Arming Black Slaves
Reconstruction: The Work To Be Done
Readings:
Letter from Major General Patrick Cleburne to Lieutenant General Joseph
Johnston
Letter from Robert E. Lee to Andrew Hunter (January 11, 1865)
Letter from J.H. Stingfellow to Jefferson Davis (February 8, 1865)
Black Codes of Mississippi (1865)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 533-553
Thursday, April 25
Topics of Discussion:
Radical Reconstruction
Andrew Johnson vs. Congress
Readings:
Thaddeus Stevens' Speech in Lancaster, PA (September 6, 1865)
Thaddeus Stevens' Speech in the House of Representatives (December 18, 1865)
Reconstruction Amendments: Amendments XIII (1865), XIV (1868), and XV (1869)
First Reconstruction Act (1867)
Andrew Johnson's State of the Union Message (December 3, 1867)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 555-581
WEEK 14
Tuesday, April 30
Topics of Discussion:
An Image of the South Before, During, and After: Gone with the Wind
Reconstruction under Grant
Readings:
John Childers' Testimony before the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into
the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States (1871)
Memorial from the State Convention of Alabama Negroes (1874) )
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 583-615
Thursday, May 2
Topics of Discussion:
Social and Economic Reconstruction
The Retreat from Reconstruction and the Compromise of 1877
Readings:
Henry Grady, "The New South" Speech (December 22, 1886)
Frederick Douglass, "Address to the Louisville Convention" (1883)
Ordeal by Fire, pp. 617-659
WEEK 15
Tuesday, May 7
Topics of Discussion:
Student Evaluations
Final Paper
FINAL EXAMINATION: Thursday, May 16, 8:00AM-10:00AM>