HIST 457 Top US Civil War Instructor: Mohr J

THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR, 1846-1861

 CRN: 15724/15725
Time/Location:
09:30-10:50 UH / 110 WIL		 Office Hours
For Informational Purposes Only...Dates will change

Doctoral Asst:                David Cecil

Office:                           245 PLC

Hours:                                                               M 12:00-14:30; H 12:30-14:30 and by appointment

Phone:                          346-4828

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This will be primarily a lecture course, with some discussion interspersed along the way and a couple of days set aside specifically for discussion of some of the readings (see syllabus).

COURSE POLICIES

There will be:

a mid-quarter exam (1/3 of your grade);

a seven-to-ten page paper (1/3 of your grade);

Paper assignment:  The Knight Library holds the New York Times newspaper from its first issue in 1851 through the end of the Civil War in April 1865, or in other words through most of the period we will be exploring in this course.  Using the Times as your chief source, you are to do the following for your seven-to-ten-page paper: Select any one week between January 1, 1852 and May 1, 1865 and read the Times thoroughly for that week.  Then write a paper that either (a) summarizes the chief issues of that week and how the Times dealt with them or (b) summarizes the most intriguing aspects of American everyday life revealed in the Times during that week.  You may explore subjects beyond your chosen week and beyond the Times,if you wish to do so, but you are not required to do so.  Your papers may vary a great deal depending upon what was going on during your week, what you decide to write about, what context you decide to put the material into, and which themes you select for analysis. and a final exam (1/3 of your grade). 

and a final exam (1/3 of your grade). 

REQUIRED TEXTS

Potter,The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861

Perry/Fellma Antislavery Reconsidered

McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, Vol. 2

Faust, Mothers of Invention

The books are paperback and available in the Bookstore.  Since there may be limited numbers of the Perry/Fellman book available, several copies of the five assigned essays from that book will be placed on Knight Library reserve.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week I:

Sep 28: Introduction and Overview

Sep 30: The politics of slavery through the 1840s (Potter, Impending Crisis, 1-62)

Week II:

Oct 05: READERS ONLY discussion of Perry/Fellman, Antislavery Reconsidered, 51-74, 99-148, and 238-283.

 Oct 07: The Mexican War and the Compromise of 1850

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 63-144)

Week III:

Oct 12: The Kansas Crisis

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 145-198)

Oct 14: The Political Revolution of the 1850s

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 199-266)

 Week IV:

Oct 19: Dred Scott

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 200-296)            

 Oct 21: Lincoln-Douglas Debates

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 297-355)

Week V:

Oct 26: John Brown, the Election of 1860, and Secession

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 356-447)

Oct 28: Causes and Historiography

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 448-484)

Week VI:

Nov 02: MID-QUARTER EXAM

Nov 04: Outbreak of Civil War

(Potter, Impending Crisis, 485-583; McPherson, Ordeal, 153-207)

 Week VII:

Nov 09: The Confederacy as a Success

(McPherson, Ordeal, 208-221)

Nov 11: The Confederacy in Disarray

(McPherson, Ordeal, 222-259)

 Week VIII:

Nov 16: Union War Effort

(McPherson, Ordeal, 260-301)

Nov 18: Lincoln and the Second War Aim

(McPherson, Ordeal, 302-392)

PAPERS DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS TODAY

Week IX:

Nov 23: READERS ONLY discussion of Faust, Mothers of Invention

Nov 25: Thanksgiving Holiday; no class, no assignment

Week X:

Nov 30: The Civil War as Military History

(McPherson, Ordeal, 393-435)

 Dec 02: The End of the War

(McPherson, Ordeal, 436-488)

Week XI:
Dec 08: Final Exam (at 08:00 a.m.)