University of Pennsylvania
Department of History
CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
History 363
Spring, 2006
Professor Robert Engs
309A College Hall
215-898-4956
rengs@sas.upenn.edu
Causes, Conduct, and Consequences of the
US Civil War
Brothers do not kill brothers; sisters and mothers do not encourage them to do so. Men and women do
not hold other men and women as slaves and describe them as animals. Human beings treated as animals rebel
against such outrage. And still other men and women, opposed to slavery, cannot expect reconciliation with
slaveholders by calling them such things as "Manstealers," and "the vilest creatures to walk the earth since Cain."
Certainly, those who despise slavery, do not despise the slave more than the institution in which he is entrapped.
Most surely, men of one race do not go to war over the fate of another race whom they all despise. And after four
years of bloody fratricidal war, the victors do not throw away their triumph, abandon the freed slaves to the untender
mercies of their former owners, and permit the restoration of power to those who -- just a decade earlier -- had been
in rebellion against the legitimate government of the nation.
But all of these things -- and worse -- happened during the Era of Civil War and Reconstruction in the
United States. Something must have been terribly wrong for this to have occurred. THERE WAS! Now, one
hundred and thirty-seven years since that War ended, historians still do not agree on what that SOMETHING was or
may still be. So this course is about questions, not answers. If you like questions, and defining your own answers,
based on a variety of evidence, then you are in the right place. Let's try to find some answers together.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
THE READINGS: The following books are required for the course and may be purchased at the House of Our
Own Bookstore, 3920 Spruce Street.
Blassingame, John, The Slave Community
Donald, David, Why the North Won the Civil War
Engs, Robert, Freedom’s First Generation
Foner, Eric, A Short History of Reconstruction
Horwitz, Tony, Confederates in the Attic
Linden, Glenn & Pressly, Thomas, eds., Voices from the House Divided
Levine, Bruce, Half Slave and Half Free
McPherson, James, Ordeal By Fire, Volume II, The Civil War
Miller, Randall 7 Engs, Robert, eds, The Birth of the Grand Old Party
Neely, Mark, The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America
Additional readings are in a bulk pack which can be purchased from Campus Copy Center. Bulkpack readings are
indicated below by **.
LECTURES AND DISCUSSIONS: There will be two lectures and a discussion meeting each week, unless
otherwise noted below. It is best to read the weekly assignment before the first lecture of each week.
DISCUSSION SECTIONS :
Discussions meetings are an integral part of learning in this course, absences should be avoided. It is
essential to do the readings before your discussion meetings. Grade in discussion sections are determined by the
quality more than the frequency of your participation. More than three unexcused absences from discussion will
result in FAILURE FOR THE COURSE.
DOCUMENT ANALYSIS:
Document Analysis Papers contribute to our understanding of the events and personages of the period
under investigation. Each of you must write two short papers [2-3 pages plus document or appropriate portion
thereof] analyzing a pamphlet, broadside, or cartoon from the “Crisis of the Union” Electronic Archive available
through http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti/civilwar/. One document must cover the pre-war period; the second
document must cover the period 1863- 1876. Only one of the documents maybe a broadside or cartoon.
Document papers will be due no later than Feb.15 and April 19 at the beginning of lecture. Your choice of
documents must have the approval of the course TA.
MIDTERM AND FINAL:
There will be a midterm and final in this course. The midterm will cover material studied to that time. The
final will be a comprehensive examination of the themes and issues of the course.. Format of each to be determined.
GRADING FORMULA
1. Discussion Section
2. 2 document papers
3. Midterm
4. Final
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Field Trip to Gettysburg or Antietam: In past years a small group from the class has visited Gettysburg
in early April. If there is sufficient interest, we will try to arrange a similar trip this term.
Lecture Schedule: The following is the tentative schedule of weekly topics , readings and discussions for the
semester. Listings below are subject to change as course and student interests evolve.
Week I:
Discussion:
Readings:
1/9
Sins of the Fathers: The Roots of War
The Civil War and contemporary memory thereof
Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic, 3-144
Week II:
NOTE: OBSERVANCE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
NO CLASS MEETING ON Monday, January 16, 2006
1/18
Curse on the Sons: The Culture that Slavery Made
Discussion:
The impact of slavery on victim and victimizer
Readings:
Blassingame, Slave Community , Chps 1-8; Stanley Elkins, “Slavery and Personality,” in
Elkins, Slavery**;George Fitzhugh, “Sociology for the South,” Edmund Ruffin, “The
Political
Economy of Slavery,” in Eric McKitrick, Slavery Defended **
Week III:
1/23
The Role of Race and Region
Discussion:
Northern Racism and Southern White Rights in the Sectional debate
Readings:
Bruce Levine, Half Slave, Half Free, 3-70; Paul D. Esscott & David R. Goldfield, eds.,
Major Problems in the History of the American South, v. I: The Old South, 277-291 [Essays by Genovese,
Oakes], 362-377 [Essays by Fox-Genovese, Escott]**
Week IV:
1/30
Uncorking the Volcano: The Mexican War and its Aftermath: 1845-1857
Discussion:
How did the Mexican war, ideology, and idealism impact the sectional crisis?
Readings:
Levine,71-198; Engs and Miler, 1-59; Eric Foner, “Introduction,” “Free Labor,” in Free
Soil, Free Labor, Free Men **
Week V:
2/6
Abraham Lincoln and the Crisis of the Union
Discussion:
Why did the original Union fail? Could it have been saved? And how did this Abe
Lincoln fellow get to be President?
Readings:
Levine,.199-242; Neely, Last Best Hope [entire]
FIRST DOCUMENT PAPER DUE 12 noon, FEBRUARY 15
Week VI:
2/13
Patriotic Gore
No Discussion Meetings this week.
Readings:
James McPherson, Ordeal by Fire, v.ii, Chps 10-15, 17-19, Engs and Miller, 60-102
MIDTERM QUESTIONS DISTRIBUTED AT END OF LECTURE, 2/15
Week VII:
2/20
The War at Home and Abroad
MIDTERM ANSWERS DUE AT BEGINNING OF LECTURE 2/22
Discussion:
Politics and Diplomacy in the War
Readings:
Glenn Linden & Thomas Pressly, eds., Voices from the House Divided,
1-69, 71-72, 85-114, 115-120; David Donald, Why the North Won the Civil War [entire];
Week VIII:
Discussion:
Readings:
Engs, ed., “Our
2/27
The Tide Turns
Life on the Homefront: Gender, Class and Ethnicity, North and South
Linden & Pressly, 149-175, 220-250; McPherson, Ordeal, Chps 16, 20-21, 23;
Patriotic Duty: Excerpts from the Evans Family Letters” handout
Spring Break
March 4-12
Week IX:
3/13
To Make Men Free
Discussion:
Who Freed the Slaves and Does It Matter?
Readings:
McPherson, Ordeal, Chps 22, 24-25; Linden & Pressly, 72-85, 120-133; Engs, FFG, Part
I; McPherson, “Who Freed the Slaves,”**, Berlin, “Emancipation and Its Meaning in American Life” **
Week X:
3/20
A War Upon The People
Discussion:
How does War reshape people in societies?
Readings:
Linden & Pressly, 176-187, 250-276; Engs & Miller, 103-127: Carl Degler, “Taking a
New Start in the World,” in The Other South, 191-229**; Eric Foner, “A New Birth of Freedom,” in The
Story of American Freedom, Chp 5 , 95-113**
Week XI:
3/27
Reconstruction: The Second American Revolution?
Discussion:
Myth and Reality in discussing Reconstruction.
Readings:
Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction, 1-103: Engs and Miller, 128-147; The
Emancipation Amendments**; Heather C. Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction, “The Northern
Postwar Vision,” 6-40.**
Week XII:
Discussion:
Readings:
4/3
Radical Reconstruction and Constitutional Change
How could Reconstruction be made to work?
Engs, FFG, Parts II & III
Week XIII:
4/10
Greenbacks and White Sheets Ascendant
Discussion:
Racism, Regionalism, or Capitalism. Who Wins?
Readings:
Foner, 104-260; Engs and Miller, 148—166; David Blight, Race and Reunion,
“Reconstruction and Reconciliation,” 98-139**
SECOND DOCUMENT PAPER DUE NOON, APRIL 19
Week XIV:
Discussion:
Readings:
4/17
Triumph of the Last New Party
Does the Past have relevance?
Engs & Miller, 167-170; Horwitz, 145-390