American Civil War Era

Week Seven Schedule:

War in Broader Context.


Monday (4/14)

Frederickburg and Stone's River as Civilian Wars.
Read Burton, Age of Lincoln, chapter 7. Read an article from the New York Times on "The Rebels and Civilized War (September 1862), and an account of Yankee Doings in Fredericksburg from the Richmond, Virginia, Daily Dispatch, 18 December 1862. Read the Wikipedia biography of Fancis Lieber. Read the U.S. Army's General Orders 100: Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field.

View an image of the City of Fredericksburg from the Library of Congress.
View the West Point Atlas map of the Eastern Tennessee Situation on 26 December 1862, paying close attention to the geography of the Tennessee River valley, as well as the locations of major hills, railroads, and principal cities.


Tuesday (4/15)

Chancellorsville: A War Zone in the Long Durée.
(Revised. We will discuss this topic next week.)
Read the subsection on Tobacco history from Wikipedia's entry on tobacco.
View the USMA map of the Central Virginia area Situation on 2 May 1863. View an Officer's Map of the Chancellorsville battlefield. View the current aerial photo image of the Chancellorsville Battlefield. Select and read at least two of the articles linked to on the Coalition to Save Chancellorsville Battlefield website.


Wednesday (4/16)

Two Communities at Mid-War.
Read Ayers, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, pp. 340-418, in preparation for our discussion in class. There will be some short exercises using the Valley of the Shadow website, a digital archive which contains electronic versions of every primary source cited in the book.


Thursday (4/17)

Gettysburg: Battle Narratives and Monumental Interpretations.
(Revised. We will discuss this topic next week.)
We will watch and evaluate excerpts from Ken Burns' Civil War and Ron Maxwell's Gettysburg today in class. Take a look at the basic but informative Gettysburg Battlefield Park Kid's Page on Granite Soldiers -- Men and Monuments. You may optionally read the article by Reuben Rainey, "Hallowed Grounds and Rituals of Remembrance: Union Regimental Monuments at Gettysburg," in Paul Groth and Todd W. Bressl, Understanding Ordinary Landscapes, 67-80. (On reserve in Furman Library).

The take-home portion of the exam will be given out in class today.


Friday (4/18)

In-class Exam.
This exam will likely have a take-home portion, short answers and one or more paragraph essays. See the exam guidelines and suggestions page for additional study ideas.


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Note: The instructor reserves the right to change any provisions, due dates, grading percentages, or any other items without prior notice. All assignments on this schedule are covered under the university's policy on plagiarism and academic integrity. See the syllabus statement for further details. This page was last updated on 4/14/2008.