Massachusetts Institute of Technology
21H.116J / STS.029J
CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
Fall 2003
Tuesday and Thursday, 3:00-4:30 p.m., room E51-095
Note: 3 Tuesday sessions will be held in E51-278:
Sept 30, Oct 21, Oct 28
Instructors:
Professor Merritt Roe Smith Anya Zilberstein, T.A.
E51-194b E51-070
roesmith@mit.edu anyaz@mit.edu
FOCUS: Although attention will be devoted to the causes and long-term consequences of the Civil War, this class will focus primarily on the war years (1861-65) with special emphasis on the military and technological aspects (armaments, transportation and communications systems, medical treatment, etc.) of the conflict. Four questions, long debated by historians, will receive close scrutiny:
What caused the war?
Why did the North win the war?
Could the South have won?
What were the long-term consequences of the Civil War?
REQUIRED READINGS:
The following books -- all in paperback -- may be purchased at the MIT Coop (Kendall Square):
James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (Oxford UP, 1988)
Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels (Ballantine, 1993)
Sam R. Watkins, Co. Aytch: A Confederate’s Memoir of the Civil War (1882;
Simon & Schuster, 1997)
David Mindell, War, Technology, and Experience Aboard the USS Monitor
(Johns Hopkins UP, 2000)
David Donald, ed., Why the North Won the Civil War (Collier, 1962).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This class will operate more like a discussion seminar than a lecture class (though there will be lectures). Students are expected to participate in class discussions by reading the assigned materials before class. To guide class discussion, students will be asked to prepare at least three reading response/reflection papers (1.5-2 pages in length) during the term. Specific instructions about these assignments will follow.
In addition to the reading response papers, there will be two (2) reading quizzes and a 7 to 10-page final essay (double spaced) on one of several assigned questions. Instructions for preparing the final paper will be forthcoming
Final grades will be determined as follows:
Response papers: 20%
Quizzes: 40%
Final paper: 40%
NOTE: Regular attendance, participation, and a good attitude are essential. Without all three you will not get much out of this course. Attendance will be taken and poor attendance will result in severe final grade penalties.
CLASS SCHEDULE & READING ASSIGNMENTS
[note that all reading assignments should be done by the date listed]
Sept. 4 – Introduction
Reading assignment: begin reading McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom.
Sept. 9 – Film: Ken Burns’ The Civil War, Episode 1, “The Cause”
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 3-144 (pay close attention to pp. 3-46)
Sept. 11 – The road to disunion, 1854-1861
Discussion questions: What caused the Civil War? Was John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry the “straw that broke the camel’s back”? Was Brown justified in using terrorist tactics? Was the Civil War inevitable?
Sept. 16 – And the war came, 1861
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 264-338. Begin reading Sam Watkins’
Co. Aytch.
Discussion questions: Did Lincoln provoke South Carolina into firing the first shot? Was there room for compromise in 1861? If the South had stayed in the Union, what would have been the future of slavery in America?
Sept. 18 – Film: Ken Burns’ The Civil War, Episode 2, “1862 – A Very Bloody Affair”
Reading assignment: begin reading Mindell, War, Technology, and Experience.
Sept. 23 – From Bull Run to New Orleans [the river war in the West], 1861-62
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 339-453.
Discussion questions: Who held the advantage at the outset of 1862? At the end of 1862? What military leaders showed the most promise? Is it fair to characterize the war as becoming a revolution after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation?
Sept. 25 – The war at sea
Reading assignment: review McPherson, pp. 313-316, 369-427.
Discussion question: How critical was the blockade of Southern ports to the Union’s success?
**Sept. 30 – The clash at Hampton Roads, March 1862
Reading assignment: Mindell (complete)
Discussion question: What is the Monitor’s significance?
Oct. 2 – Film: The Civil War, Episode 4, “1863 – Simply Murder”
Reading assignment: begin reading Shaara, The Killer Angels.
Oct. 7 – Technology and tactics [lecture]
Reading assignment: McPherson, 471-89.
Artifacts: Model 1863 Springfield rifle-musket; Model 1859 Sharps carbine.
Oct. 9 – Civil War medicine [lecture on battlefield surgery and health conditions]
Artifact: Civil War surgeon’s kit
Oct. 14 – The Confederate surge, 1862-63
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 454-90.
Oct. 16 – FIRST READING QUIZ
**Oct. 21 – Film: The Civil War, Episode 5, “1863 – The Universe of Battle”
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 591-665.
Oct. 23 – The high water mark: Gettysburg, July 1863
Reading assignment: Shaara, The Killer Angels (complete).
Film segment: “Gettysburg” [re-enactment of Pickett’s charge]
**Oct. 28 – The face of battle [continuation of the Gettysburg/Vicksburg discussion]
Oct. 30 – Life in the ranks
Reading assignment: Sam Watkins, Co. Aytch (complete).
Nov. 4 – Command structures, communications, and logistics [lecture]
Reading assignment: excerpt from Clement Eaton, A History of the Southern
Confederacy, pp. 130-152 [on reserve].
Nov. 6 – Film: The Civil War, Episode 7, “1863 – Most Hallowed Ground”
Nov. 13 – The vise tightens, 1863-64
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 666-774.
Nov. 18 – Film: The Civil War, Episode 8, “War is Hell”
Reading assignment: McPherson, pp. 774-862.
Nov. 20 – SECOND READING QUIZ
Nov. 25 – Film: The Civil War, Episode 9, “The Better Angels of Our Nature”
Dec. 2 – Why the North won; why the South lost
Reading assignment: Donald (complete).
Dec. 4 – Legacies of the Civil War [lecture]
Dec. 9 - Legacies of the Civil War: wrapup discussion
Assignment: FINAL PAPER DUE
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** = class meets in room E51-278.