(This is a companion course to my course The Southern Home Front During the U.S. Civil War)
"We have the wolf by the ears, we cannot hold him or safely let him go." Thomas Jefferson (1820)
Course Description: While slavery had been a contentious issue even before the American Revolution, the events of the 1850s escalated sectional tensions to a fevered pitch by the time of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. This course will examine abolitionism, the Compromise of 1850 and the associated Fugitive Slave Act that triggered federal court cases and violence in the North, the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act and the resulting citizen-on-citizen slaughter in "Bleeding Kansas," the formation of the Republican Party, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision and more up through the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861 and the subsequent secession of the last four Confederate states.
Class participation is highly encouraged. Participants will come away with a good understanding of how the Civil War came to happen.
Required Book: McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988, 2005 2nd edition) 909 pages.
This 1988 Pulitzer Prize winning book is the most comprehensive single volume account that covers both how the war came to happen and what happened during the war. We will only be reading the first 300 pages of the book in this class. All printings across both editions are practically identical so it doesn't matter which you buy.
The book is available from Amazon as a new paperback for $12 (plus tax and shipping). But if you think you might want to keep the book long after the course is over, you might want to consider buying a used hardcover in "very good" or "like new" condition. They often go for less than $12 (including shipping). You can use this link to find such hardcovers from Amazon resellers. By Amazon definition, "Very Good" and "Like New" condition indicates the book has undamaged spines and covers, and pages that are not yellowed, are unmarked, and have no creases or dog-ears. Read the "condition" statement next to the price carefully; make sure it does not say anything about the book having these problems. Contact me at khoff999@yahoo.com if you need help purchasing the book.
If possible, please read the Prologue and Chapter 1 "The United States at Midcentury" (Pp 3 - 46) before the class begins. This provides a very good overview of many aspects of the United States, including some differences between the North and the South, in 1850.
It is recommended that you do not read too far ahead of the weekly reading assignments.
Synopsis: What was the Civil War About?
Timeline of Civil War-related events in the 1850s
Course Syllabus:
Session 1: Course Introduction
Ch. 1 - "The U.S. at Midcentury" Pp. 3 - 46. (43 pages)
A.
Abolitionists and antislavery people
B. A Brief History of U.S. Political Parties to 1860
C. An Overview of Slavery and Abolitionism until 1845
D. Battle Cry of Freedom - Chapter 1 "The United States at Midcentury"
Session 2: "The Compromise of 1850"
Ch. 2 - "Mexico Will Poison Us" Pp. 47 - 77 (30 pages)
A. Texas Annexation, the Mexican-American War, and the Compromise of 1850
B. Unionism
C. Increasing Abolitionism
Session 3: Fugitive Slaves & Northern States' Rights
Ch. 3 "An Empire for Slavery" and beginning of Ch. 4 "Slavery, Rum, and Romanticism" Pp. 78 - 120. (42 pages)
A. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
B. The Southern Economy (McPherson, p. 91 - 103) Important, please read closely
C. Filibustering (Cuba, Central America) (p. 104 - 116) Not so important, skip if you like
Session 4: The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
Remainder of Ch. 4 and all of Ch. 5 "The Crime against Kansas" Pp. 121 - 169 (48 pages)
Pages 131 - 144 on the anti-immigrant "Know Nothings" can be skipped to shorten the reading
A. The Kansas-Nebraska Act & Bleeding Kansas
B. The Formation of the Republican Party
Session 5: 1857 & 1858
Ch. 6 "Mudsills and Greasy Mechanics for A. Lincoln" Pp. 170 - 201 (31 pages)
A. Increasing Entrenchment of Slavery
B. The Dred Scott Decision
C. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
D. The Panic of 1857
Session 6: 1859 & 1860
Ch 7. "The Revolution of 1860" Pp. 202 - 233 (31 pages)
A. John Brown's 1859 Raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia
B. The Presidential and Congressional Elections of 1860
Session 7: Secession and The Formation of the Confederate Government
Ch. 8 "The Counterrevolution of 1861" Pp. - 275 (41 pages)
A. The Cotton States Secede
B. Pre-war Acts of Military Aggression
C. Discussion of the Confederate Constitution
D. The Confederate Cabinet
Session 8: The War Begins
Ch. 9 "Facing Both Ways: The Upper South's Dilemma" Pp. 276 - 307 (31 pages)
A. The Assault on Fort Sumter
B. The Fallout from the Fort Sumter Attack
C. Final Q&A / Class Discussion
