History 216-01:
"From the American Revolution
through the American Civil War"
Office: Young House (205 Griffin Avenue)
Web Page: http://jpwhit.people.wm.edu
Telephone: 757-221-7654
Office Hours: By Appointment
Clearly,
this isn't your typical class. For one thing, we meet all day on Fridays.
For another, we will spend most of our class time "on-site" at museums, battlefields,
or inside historic buildings.
I've
always held discussions in this class over an extended lunch hour. In my opinion,
the food has added considerably to the fun of the course, and I'd like to
retain the feature. We'll picnic some of the time. (Pizza
or sandwiches) On those days, I will take orders for food by email and you
can reimburse me. When we eat at a sit-down restaurant, I'll usually put the
entire bill on a credit card and, again, you can reimburse me. Whenever possible,
I'll post a link to a menu on the class web site several days before the trip.
Requirements
& Grades: Students generally
want to know every little thing about the grading system, but truth be known, it is all pretty-much a subjective process and in
the end I will evaluate the totality of your work over the course of the semester.
Admittedly, many students find this ambiguity unsettling during the semester,
but few seem to think the grades unfair in the end. Keep in mind that A
grades are reserved for EXCEPTIONAL work, and to win an A
for the course means hitting on just about all cylinders just about all of
the time. The grade of B covers a much wider range of perfectly
acceptable, even superior, performance. Any student who scrambles over all
the course requirements and delivers even a modest effort should have no trouble
attaining a C--acceptable, but undistinguished. To receive
a final grade lower than C, a student in this class would
simply have to stop trying. I do use pluses and minuses, by the way. As
I am incapable of higher mathematics, I have devised "the rule of quarters."
Each component of the course will determine 25% (more-or-less) of your grade
for the course:
I.
Electronic Journal (25%):
The
writing you do in this class will take the form of an electronic journal in
which you will write a weekly entry that includes both text and images pertaining
to our field trips, readings, and class discussions. NO COMPUTING
EXPERTISE IS ANTICIPATED—I WILL TEACH YOU ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO
KNOW. You can check out some recent examples of these electronic
journals here: http://www.wm.edu/niahd/journals.
You will also log on at this site to begin and maintain your own journal.
These journals are on-line, so anyone with access to the Internet (like parents
and deans) can view them, so please use good taste. What you write
is the key, and the greatest tool you have is the English language. It is
the medium of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen; Rhys Isaac and Edmund Morgan.
It is free to you for the taking. Don't abuse it.
I
will assign you a very simple digital camera with which you will be able to
record field trips in a visual way and from which you may upload images to
your on-line journal. If you have your own digital camera, you are certainly
free to use it instead. You may use any of the images you take as "art" for
your journal, but you can also use absolutely any appropriate images you can
find on the Internet. I'll give you plenty of help with that. While it is
certainly true that what you write is more important than these digital images,
the photos can provide very useful “talking points” for your prose. In any
event, you MUST post at least three images per field trip They can
come from the Internet., indeed from any source, as well as from the digital
camera. There is provision for identifying the source of the images as you
place them in your journal.
The
electronic journal must be complete by
Each
of you will undertake two oral reports that stress the presentation of factual
information linked in some way to the week's topic. The research should be
easily accomplished from readily-available material on the Internet, in Swem Library or from the Colonial Williamsburg Research Library
(where you will be welcome, by the way, and where you will have borrowing
privileges if you fill out some paperwork). I'll be happy to guide you to
additional places to look. My purpose is to have you become familiar with
a few of the most basic sources of factual information about early American
History and to provide in your reports some "take off points" for class discussions.
You'll get the topic assignments approximately one week ahead of time. If
you will email me an outline of the report by 5:00 pm on the Thursday prior
to your time at center stage, I'll alert you if anything is amiss and suggest
additional sources if you need them. These are to be SHORT reports--no
more than 5 minutes--sometimes delivered before we depart, sometimes at lunch,
sometimes in the middle of a site visit. Think of them this way: You are
standing near the punch bowl at a party. Two or three people come up and demand
that you explain your topic to them. In the space of consuming one glass of
punch and two crackers loaded with Brie, what would you tell them?
Note:
Over the last couple of years that students have come to rely on Wikipedia
almost exclusively for these reports. I'm instituting a requirement that there
be at least two sources, one of which must be print. You may simply identify
the sources at the end of your report.
III:
Classtime Discussions (25%):
As
much of the discussion for any week will take place over lunch, we'll often
do a lot of talking before we even see whatever it is we came to see after
lunch, which in turn privileges the readings. Indeed, the only preparation
I will expect is that you have a firm grasp of the readings. There will be
also ample opportunity to talk as we poke around the places we visit and on
the way home--anyplace we have an opening for an impromptu seminar session.
Here again you are subject to my appallingly subjective evaluation of your
participation in all class time activities.
IV:
Final Exam (25%):
The
exam will consist of short-answer questions that will require you to know
the readings and be able to relate them to the sites we'll visit and the discussions
we'll have. I’ll talk more with you about this component toward the end of
the course.
Schedule
The
schedule below is tentative, but probably about right.
Sites:
Yorktown
Victory Center
Yorktown Battlefield
Yorktown
Catherine Kerrison, "By the
Book: Eliza Ambler Brent Carrington and Conduct Literature in Late Eighteenth-Century
Holly
Mayer, "Retainers to the Camp: The Conjugal Family," chapter 4 from
her book, Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the
American Revolution (1996), pp.122-152.
Lunch:
Theme: Before he was a chief justice of the supreme court, John Marshall was a primary force in the social and political world of the new state capital at Richmond where, after service during the Revolution, he built one of the first homes in the fashionable "Court End" neighborhood in 1790. Just down the street, lawyer John Wickham, a Loyalist in New York during the Revolution, built a town house in 1812 that rivaled any in northern cities. Marshall and Wickham were both involved in the 1807 treason trial of former vice-president Aaron Burr, Marshall as presiding judge; Wickham as Burr's lawyer. The trial was one of the premier events of the nation's early history, drawing crowds so large that eventually the proceedings had to be shifted to the legislative chamber in the new state capitol building designed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was at that point President of the United States and the political enemy of both Burr and Marshall. Much to Jefferson's chagrin, Burr was found not guilty. Marshall and Wickham were later instrumental in the building of nearby Monumental Church between 1812 and 1814 as a monument to the 72 people who died in a theater fire in 1811.
JohnMarshall
House
John Wickham House
Monumental Church
Lunch:
Sites:
19 September:
Theme: William & Mary alumnus Thomas
Jefferson mirrored the contradictions in American life after the Revolution.
The quintessential advocate of liberty for white men, he owned slaves his
entire life. His relationship with the African Americans who lived and worked
at
Highland (aka, "Ash Lawn")
26 September:
Theme:
Sites:
Frontier Culture Museum (Stanton, VA)
R
Gail S. Terry, “Sustaining the Bonds of Kinship in a Trans-Appalachian Migration, 1790-1811: The Cabell-Breckinridge Slaves Move West,” Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, 102 (1994), pp. 455-476.
Ann Smart Martin, "Living in the Backcountry: Styles
and Standards," chapter 4 , from her book, Buying into the World of
Goods: Early Consumers in Backcountry Virginia (2008). pp. 94-144.
Theme:
Black and white, slave and free, male and female; all southerners placed enormous, sometimes fatal, emphasis on how they were perceived by others--that is to say, on "Honor." This focus on the maintenance of appearance and dignity promoted dueling between men of all classes. Southern males sometimes shot each other over ill-chosen words--or in contests over the affections of a young lady. How does this help us to understand southern politics and the coming of the Civil War? Meanwhile, slavery changed its nature over the course of the antebellum period as masters became more and more concerned with potential slave unrest. That uneasiness even played into the design of slave housing, as masters used private space to reward good behavior and yet arranged that space to promote surveillance of their slaves. Yet even within this ever-tightening system of surveillance and paranoia, slaves managed to carve out small spaces of autonomonjy--even maintaining purchasing power that has allowed Ann Smart Martin to track their tastes in consumer items. Virginia's departure from the Union in April of 1861 was the culmination of a long process during which many Virginias hoped desperately for a way to avoid secession. As the crisis approached, purely logical factors often gave way to emotional considerations, and southern notions of "honor" came forcefully into play, especially among young elite males such as the young men educated at places like the College of William & Mary.
Sites:
Wren
Building
Bacon's Castle Mansion & Slave
House
Chippokes Plantation
Isle of Wight Courthouse of 1800
Boydkin Tavern
Robert F. Pace, "Honor and Violence," chapter 4 from his book, Halls of Honor: College Men in the Old South (2004), pp. 82-97.
Larry
McKee, "The Ideals and Realities Behind the Design and Use of 19th Century
Virginia Slave Cabins," in Anne Elizabeth Yentsch & Mary C. Beaudry,
ed., The Art and Mystery of Historical Archaeology, Essays in Honor of
James Deetz (1992), pp. 195-213.
Lunch: Surry House (Surry, VA)
Theme:
Sites:
Fortress
Monroe
USS Monitor Center (Mariners Museum)
24 October:
Lee Takes Command: The Seven Days Battles
Theme:
Gaines Mill Battlefield
Malvern Hill Battlefield
Berkeley Plantation (Harrison's
Landing)
William A. Blair, "The Seven Days and the Radical Persuasion: Convincing Radicals in the North of the Need for a Hard War," in Gary W. Gallagher, ed., The Richmond Campaign of 1862: The Peninsula & The Seven Days (2000), pp. 153-180.
Lesley J. Gordon, "Virginia, 1862: Shaking with the Thunders of Battle," chapter 7 from her book, General George E. Pickett in Life & Legend(1998), pp. 84-95.
Joseph T. Glatthaar, "The Battle for Richmond: The Seven Days' Campaign," and "Combat," chapters 12 & 25 from his book, General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse (2008), pp. 135-149; 315-333.
Lunch:
26 October: Optional Barbecue at Rosewell
Theme: A favorite haunt of Thomas Jefferson, Rosewell was probably the most impressive private home in British North America—three full stories with magnificent details. The Page family seat, it was begun about 1725 and survived until 1916, when it burned. The ruins are spectacular in their own right—worthy of Edgar Allen Poe. Each fall the Rosewell Foundation sponsors a barbecue at the ruins. It is on a Sunday, includes some fabulous food, great live music, and a silent auction. If you’d like to come with me, I'll cover the cost.
Sites:
Ruins of Rosewell
Plantation, Gloucester County, VA
NONE
Lunch: Barbecue at Rosewell
Theme: The stage set by his resounding victory over Union General John Pope at Second Bull Run, Robert E. Lee invaded North in 1862, crossing the Potomac River into western Maryland with a multifaceted agenda: influence politics in the North, "liberate" Maryland, and convince European powers to mediate a peace. The result was the bloodiest single day of fighting in American history at Antietam Creek, Maryland. In a truly pivotal battle, George McClellan, recently returned to command of Union forces in the East, blunted Lee's invasion attempt but failed to crush or even vigorously pursue the southern army as it retreated into Virginia. For this Lincoln removed McClellan from command. In the wake of the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, once again altering the trajectory of the war. After decisively defeating Union forces again at Fredericksburg and at Chancellorsville, Lee once more invaded the North in 1863. Almost a year to the day after the conclusion of the Seven Days Battles, the Army of the Potomac under George Meade defeated Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The men on both sides fought valiantly, but generalship for the Confederates--usually a strength--was poor throughout. By contrast, leadership in the northern army was--for the first time since the war began--excellent, overall. In popular works of both history and fiction, the south's effort is often presented as both desperate and doomed from the outset. In fact, the Confederates came within a hair's breath of winning on both days one and two, and George Pickett's famous charge on the third day might very well have succeeded.
NOTE: The details for this trip are not yet firmed up. You will have an opportunity to offer input, but for certain, this will be an entirely OPTIONAL trip. It will certainly require at leaqst one night on the road and possibly two.
Sites:
Antietam
Battlefield, (Sharpsburg, MD)
Gettysburg Battlefield (Gettysburg, PA)
Joseph
T. Glatthaar, "Taking the War to the Enemy," and "The Failure
at Gettysburg" chapters 13 & 22 from his book, General Lee's Army:
From Victory to Collapse (2008), pp. 150-173; 268-288.
Lunch: Dobbin House Tavern (Gettysburg, PA)
7 November: Civilians and the Civil War
Theme:
Civil
War Yorktown & Gloucester Point
Battle of Williamsburg
Readings:
Drew Gilpin Faust, "Altars of Sacrifice: Confederate Women and the Narratives of War," Journal of American History, 76 (1990), pp. 1200-1228.
Scott Reynolds Nelson & Carol Sheriff," 'Cair, Anxiety, & Tryals': Life in the Wartime Union," and " 'War's Miseries': The Confederate Home Front," chapters 11 & 12 from their book, A People at War: Civilians and Soldiers in America's Civil War (2007), pp. 231-256; 260-285.
Lunch: Rivah Cafe (Yorktown)
Theme: Who were the soldiers on both sides during the Civil War and what were their peacetime backgrounds and wartime stories? Contrary to popular stereotypes, most Union soldiers were from rural backgrounds, while not a few Confederates were from towns like Richmond. With the exception of immigrants from Ireland, the great waves of immigration from Europe that marked the post-Civil War years had not begun. Both sides claimed to be the legitimate heirs of the struggle for independence during the American Revolution and of the enshrinement of liberty during the years of the New Republic. If the soldiers were so similar, why then did they kill each other by the thousands? We'll address these questions at Pamplin Park, a museum on the site of the Union breakthrough against Lee's entrenchment's at Petersburg on April 2, 1865. The Confederates immediately evacuated nearby Richmond and on April 9, Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Pamplin Park gives s the opportunity to explore the nature of soldier life on both sides during the Civil War, from the ferocity of combat to the boredom of camp existence between battles.
Sites:
Pamplin Park
Military Museum (Petersburg)
Joseph
T. Glatthaar, "Desertion," chapter 32 from his book, General
Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse (2008), pp. 408-420...
Scott
Reynolds Nelson & Carol Sheriff, "The Male World of the Camp,"
chapter 10 from their book, A People at War: Civilians and Soldiers in
America's Civil War (2007), pp. 214-228.
Lunch: Hardtack
& Coffee Cafe (Pamplin Park)
Theme: By the 1840s, Richmond had developed into an urban area with a significant industrial and commercial base, lavish displays of "high style," and deep involvement in national politics. Impressive public buildings speak to Richmond's aspirations to be a major city in the mold of New York or Philadelphia. Along the James, Tredegar Iron Works was merely the best known of many industrial enterprises made possible by the Kanawa Canal. But the Civil War changed all that, as Richmond became the second--and las--capital of the Confederacy. To house President Jefferson Davis the Confederate government acquired a mansion that, although gray in color, became known as "The White House of the Confederacy." That mansion and several other contemporary buildings such as St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and St. Peter's Catholic Church survive in the Capitol Square neighborhood. Richmond became the governmental hub of the Confederacy, and long before the end of the war in 1865, it was a place where the stress of war took its toll on the civilian population. With the business district in flames when the Confederate forces withdrew from the city in 1865, many Richmonders took refuge on the grounds of the state Capitol and still in use today. Among the refugees were the wife and daughters of Robert E. Lee, who resided in a small brick house not far away. Jefferson Davis and his family had already fled the town by railroad. A short time later, Davis and his wife, Varina Howell Davis, were captured in Georgia.
Capitol Square
Neighborhood
Church Hill Neighborhood
Lunch: Bottoms Up Pizza (Richmond)
Theme:
Whitehouse
of the Confederacy
Monument Avenue
Hollywood Cemetery