HIST 153b: Slavery and the American Civil War
FALL 2015
MWTh 12-12:50
Prof. Abigail Cooper (abcooper@brandeis.edu)
Office hours: Wed. 1-3pm & by appt. (Olin-Sang 121)
Teaching Fellow: Josh Luger (luger@brandeis.edu)
This course investigates the institution of slavery in America and grapples with the Civil War it took to
bring about emancipation. Themes of this course include: slavery and capitalism, emancipation and
human rights, religion and culture in systems of oppression, the development of race and slavery over
time, slavery and republicanism, slavery and democracy, modern and premodern societies, political
compromise, westward expansion, American imperial ambitions, the development of sectional
antagonism, secession, the development of modern warfare, Civil war medicine, Confederate and
U.S. nation-building in wartime, black military service, emancipation policy, experience of
emancipation on the ground, migration and refugee camps, the experiences of black women,
Reconstruction, 13th, 14th, and 15th Constitutional Amendments, Civil War memorialization, the
evolution of historical scholarship on slavery and the Civil War.
The course normally consists of two lectures each week, on Monday and Wednesday and one weekly
discussion group on Thursday. Discussion organization will be determined based on course
enrolllment, to be set by Sept 3.
READINGS:
At the bookstore and on reserve at the library:
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, 1619-1877 (2003 edition)
James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (2003 edition)
Other readings are available on LATTE. They are listed under each week in the course outline.
Course Requirements & Percentage of Course Grade:
Participation
20%
LATTE assignments
20%
Midterm
20%
Research project
20%
Take-home exam
20%
LATTE assignments:
LATTE posts: Post a comment or question related to the readings by 8pm the Wednesday
before you participate in your Thursday discussion group.
LATTE quizzes: Periodically, the professor will post LATTE quizzes. Instructions will be
contained within each quiz. This exercise functions to reinforce retention of the material of the
course. Performance on the quizzes goes toward your overall LATTE assignment grade.
Midterm: The midterm comes late in the semester but serves as a venue for assessment for our work
on slavery and the Civil War before we move on to Reconstruction after Thanksgiving. The midterm
will comprise identification, short answer, and similarly-structured questions. Further details to come.
Research project: Details to come.
Take-home exam: The take-home exam will be posted to LATTE on Dec. 10. Upload your completed
exam to LATTE by Dec. 17.
General expectations: include completion of assigned readings and demonstration of both
comprehension and curiosity, attendance at all classes (excused absences due to extenuating
circumstances may come up; please notify the professor or teaching fellow and keep such absences to
a minimum), engaged and courageous participation in discussion, completion of all assignments,
Academic Accommodations: If you are a student with a documented disability at Brandeis and wish
to request a reasonable accommodation for this class, please see me immediately.
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity: Violations of University policies on academic integrity can result
in failure in the course or on the assignment, or in suspension or dismissal from the University. If
you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, it is your responsibility to
ask for clarification.
Please read the University’s policies on academic integrity at
http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/ai. I will refer suspected instances of academic dishonesty
to the Office of Student Development and Conduct.
The semester in calendar form:
L=Lecture Disc=Discussion SL=SLAVERY CW=CIVIL WAR REC=RECONSTRUCTION
SEPTEMBER
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
4
5
11
12
18
19
25
26
AUG 27
INTRO
31
1
L1a
SL
6
7
8
Labor Day
no class
13
14
15
Rosh Hashanah
no class
20
21
22
L4a
SL
27
2
3
L1b
CW
Wk 1 Disc
9
10
L2a
SL
Brandeis Mon.
Wk 2 Disc
16
17
L3a
SL
Wk 3 Disc
23
24
Yom Kippur
no class
Wk 4 Disc
28
29
30
Oct. 1
Sukkot
no class
Brandeis Mon.
L5a SL
L5b
SL
Wk 5 Disc
2
OCTOBER
Sun
4
Mon
Tue
5
6
Shmini Atzeret
no class
11
12
13
L7a
SL
18
19
20
L8a
CW
25
26
27
L9a
CW
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
7
8
9
10
L6a
SL
Wk 6 Disc
16
17
23
24
30
31
Thu
Fri
Sat
6
7
13
14
20
21
27
28
Thu
Fri
Sat
2
3
4
5
L13b
REC
Wk 13 Disc
11
12
18
19
25
26
14
15
L7b
SL
Wk 7 Disc
21
22
L8b
CW
Wk 8 Disc
28
29
L9b
CW
Wk 9 Disc
NOVEMBER
Sun
1
Mon
Tue
2
3
L10a
CW
8
9
10
L11a
CW
15
16
17
L12a
CW
22
23
24
MIDTERM
Wed
4
5
L10b
CW
Wk 10 Disc
11
12
L11b
CW LIB. EVENT
Wk 11 Disc
18
19
L12b
CW
Wk 12 Disc
25
26
Thanksgiving
no class
Thanksgiving
no class
DECEMBER
Sun
Mon
Tue
Nov. 30
1
L13a
REC
6
7
8
L14a
REC
13
14
15
Wed
9
10
LAST CLASS
L14b
TAKE-HOME
EXAM POSTED
16
17
TAKE-HOME
EXAM DUE
20
21
22
23
24
GRADES
POSTED
27
28
29
30
COURSE OUTLINE:
Thur, Aug. 27: INTRODUCTORY CLASS
3
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Mon, Aug. 31: Lecture 1a: SLAVERY & RACE/CIVIL WAR & NATION: THE VIEW FROM THE 21st
CENTURY, Pt. 1
Wed, Sept. 2: Lecture 1b: SLAVERY & RACE/CIVIL WAR & NATION: THE VIEW FROM THE 21st
CENTURY, Pt. 2
Thur, Sept. 3: Week 1 Discussion
Week 1 Readings:
W.E.B. DuBois, “The Propaganda of History” in Black Reconstruction (1935)
Drew Faust, “Telling War Stories” (2011)
Brett Bursey & Daniel Hollis, “The Day the Flag Went Up” (1999)
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?"
Stephen Berry,“The Future of Civil War Era Studies,” Journal of the Civil War Era
(2012)*
Viewings: Key & Peele, Leslie Jones, Django Unchained clip
*It is perfectly all right to skim this piece. The point of the assignment is to peer into the
conversation historians are having among themselves at the current moment about possible future
directions for Civil War era history. Read the opening paragraphs closely, take note of each
enumerated point, and skim the material within each point so as to understand why these topics
might be de rigeur at the moment. If you have further interest in Civil War scholarship, by all
means, give this a full read. Prof. Cooper is always up for a chat on this.
SLAVERY
Mon, Sept. 7: Labor Day – NO CLASS
Wed, Sept. 9: Lecture 2a: THE MIDDLE PASSAGE & NEW WORLD SLAVERY
Thur, Sept. 10: (Brandeis Monday but for us, a discussion day) Week 2 Discussion
Week 2 Readings:
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, Chapter 1
Saidiya Hartman, Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route
(selection)
Exhibit: “In Motion: The African American Migration Experience” by The Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture
Mon, Sept. 14: Rosh Hashanah – NO CLASS
Wed, Sept. 16: Lecture 3a: FROM AFRICAN TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN, FROM A SOCIETY WITH
SLAVES TO A SLAVE SOCIETY
Thur, Sept. 17: Week 3 Discussion
Week 3 Readings:
Ira Berlin, Many Thousands Gone (selection)
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, Chapters 2 & 3
Mon, Sept. 21: Lecture 4a: THE SECRET LIFE OF SLAVES: PART I
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Wed, Sept. 23: Yom Kippur – NO CLASS
Thur, Sept. 24: Week 4 Discussion
Week 4 Readings:
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, Chapters 4 & 5
Unorthodox readings in fragments, artifacts, materials
Mon, Sept. 28: Sukkot – NO CLASS
Wed, Sept. 30: Lecture 5a: THE SECRET LIFE OF SLAVES: PART II
Thur, Oct. 1: Week 5 Discussion
Week 5 Readings:
Michael Gomez, Exchanging Our Country Marks, Chapters 4 & 9
The Autobiography of Omar ibn Said (primary source)
Mon, Oct. 5: Shmini Atzeret – NO CLASS
Wed, Oct. 7: Lecture 6a: SLAVERY AND CAPITALISM
Thur, Oct. 8: Week 6 Discussion
Week 6 Readings:
Seth Rockman, “Liberty is Land and Slaves”
Walter Johnson, Soul by Soul: Life in the Antebellum Slave Market (Chap. 5)
Amy Dru Stanley, “Slave Breeding and Free Love: An Antebellum Argument over
Slavery, Capitalism, and Personhood”
Mon, Oct. 12: Lecture 7a: WAGE LABOR AND FREE SOIL
Wed, Oct. 14: Lecture 7b: A POLITICAL CRISIS AND A LIBERAL DILEMMA
Thur, Oct. 15: Discussion 7
Week 7 Readings:
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, Chap. 6 “The White South: Society, Economy,
Ideology”
Robin Blackburn, "Emancipation and 'Human Rights' from Empire to Decolonization,"
The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation, and Human Rights (2011)
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Civil War Isn’t Tragic”
Hammond, James H. Speech of Hon. James H. Hammond, of South Carolina, on the
Admission of Kansas, Under the Lecompton Constitution. Delivered in the Senate of
the United States, March 4, 1858
Lincoln, Abraham. "Annual Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859
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CIVIL WAR
Mon, Oct. 19: Lecture 8a: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND PLANTATION EMPIRES
Wed, Oct. 21: Lecture 8b: SECESSION & THE BORDER STATES
Thur, Oct. 22: Discussion 8
Week 8 Readings:
McPherson, Prologue & Chaps. 1-5 & 9
Mon, Oct. 26: Lecture 9a: SO THIS IS WHAT MODERN WAR LOOKS LIKE
Wed, Oct. 28: Lecture 9b: MEDICINE & MIDWIVES
Thur, Oct. 29: Discussion 9
Week 9 Readings:
McPherson, Chaps. 10, 15, 16
Mon, Nov. 2: Lecture 10a: Turning Points and Transformations, Pt. 1
Wed, Nov. 4: Lecture 10b: Turning Points and Transformations, Pt. 2
Thur, Nov. 5: Discussion 10
Week 10 Readings:
McPherson, Chaps. 21, 23, 24
Mon, Nov. 9: Lecture 11a: THE THRILLING TEDIUM OF CIVIL WAR SOURCES
Wed, Nov. 11: BRANDEIS SPECIAL COLLECTIONS CIVIL WAR LETTERS EVENT
in Goldfarb Library (with a short Lecture 11b presented at the event; event goes until 2, but
students may leave early as necessary)
Thur, Nov. 12: Discussion 11
Week 11 Readings:
James McPherson, Chaps 25-28 & Epilogue
Mon, Nov. 16: Lecture 12a: CONTRABAND CAMPS, PT. 1
Wed, Nov. 18: Lecture 12b: CONTRABAND CAMPS, PT. 2
Thur, Nov. 19: Discussion 12
Week 12 Readings:
Leon Litwack, ‘Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery (selection)
Interactive map of the contraband camps of the Civil War
American Freedmen’s Inquiry Commission Records (primary source)
Mon, Nov. 23: MIDTERM
Wed, Nov. 25 & Thur, Nov. 26: THANKSGIVING RECESS – NO CLASS
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RECONSTRUCTION
Mon, Nov. 30: Lecture 13a: FROM CONTRABAND TO FREEDMAN
Wed, Dec. 2: Lecture 13b: BLACK RECONSTRUCTION
Thur, Dec. 3: Week 13 Discussion
Week 13 Readings:
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, Chapter 7: The End of Slavery
[additional reading TBA]
Mon, Dec. 7: Lecture 14a: REDEMPTION
Wed, Dec. 9: Lecture 14b: CONCLUSION
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