Jan. 17
Introduction to the Course

Jan. 19
Origins of Sectionalism to the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 1-25

Jan. 21
Slavery and the Development of Proslavery Ideology, 1820s-1830s

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 26-41, 49-55

Jan. 24
The Emergence of Northern Sectionalism, l830s-1840s; The Religious Denominational Schisms of the 1830s-40s

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 42-49, 55-56
• Last Day to Choose Subject of Web Site

Jan. 26
Texas, Oregon, and the Presidential Election of 1844

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 57-59

Jan. 28
Slavery, the Mexican War, and the Territorial Issue, 1846-48

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 59-65

Jan. 31
The Election of 1848 and the California Crisis of 1849-50

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 65-68

Feb. 2
The Compromise of 1850

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 68-72

Feb. 4
Sectional Reactions to the Compromise, 1850-53; the Election of 1852

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 72-86

Feb. 7
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 90-93

Feb. 9
The Political Realignment of 1854-56

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 86-89, 93-95

Feb. 11
Bleeding Kansas; the Crime Against Sumner; the Election of 1856

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 95-101

Feb. 14
The Dred Scott Case and the Lecompton Issue, l857-58

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 102-116

Feb. 16
Religion and Secessionism

• Snay, Gospel of Disunion, all pages

Feb. 18
John Brown's Raid and the Election of 1860

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 117-130

Feb. 21
Exam 1

Feb. 23
The Secession of the Lower South and the Formation of the Confederacy

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 131-136, 141-142, 613-615

Feb. 25
Efforts to Preserve the Union through Sectional Compromise

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 137-144

Feb. 28
Ft. Sumter and the Beginning of the War; Secession and the Upper South

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 144-166, 625-626

Mar. 1
The Military Balance Sheet: War Aims of the Union and Confederacy

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 186-187, 260-264, 615-625

Mar. 3
The Military Balance Sheet: Economic, Fiscal, and Manpower Resources

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 183-186, 200-207

Mar. 6
The Military Balance Sheet: Military Leadership, Strategy, and Weaponry

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 167-182, 186-201

Mar. 8
The Military Balance Sheet: Political Leadership

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 260-264, 360-367

Mar. 10
Psychoanalyzing Abraham Lincoln

• Burlingame, The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln, all pages

Mar. 13
No Class-Spring Break

Mar. 15
No Class-Spring Break

Mar. 17
No Class-Spring Break

Mar. 20
Military Campaigns and Battles: First Bull Run to Second Bull Run (Apr. 1861-Aug. 1862)

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 208-278

Mar. 22
Military Campaigns and Battles: Antietam to Chancellorsville (Sep. 1862-May 1863)

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 279-321

Mar. 24
Military Campaigns and Battles: Gettysburg to Chattanooga (June 1863-Nov. 1863)

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 322-409

Mar. 27
Military Campaigns and Battles: Chattanooga to Atlanta (Nov. 1863-Sep. 1864)

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 410-458

Mar. 29
Military Campaigns and Battles: Atlanta to Appomattox (Sep. 1864-Apr. 1865)

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 459-488

Mar. 31
Exam 2

Apr. 3
The War as Revolution: Centralization of Government, Suppression of Civil Liberties, Modernization of Society

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 292-294, 368-392

Apr. 5
The War as Revolution: Centralization of Government, Suppression of Civil Liberties, Modernization of Society

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 292-294, 368-392

Apr. 7
Loyalty and Disloyalty in the Confederate South

• Dyer, Secret Yankees, all pages

Apr. 10
The War as Revolution: the Contraband Issue and Abolition

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 264-278

Apr. 12
The War as Revolution: Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 292-297, 300-301

Apr. 14
The War as Revolution: Emancipation as a Process; Abolition and the CSA

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 346-360, 466-467, 477-478

Apr. 17
Wartime Reconstruction under Lincoln; Lincoln's Assassination

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 393-409, 482-488

Apr. 19
Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson in 1865

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 489-509

Apr. 21
No Class-Good Friday Observance

Apr. 24
1866: Andrew Johnson v. Congress; the Fourteenth Amendment

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 510-517

Apr. 26
Congressional Reconstruction, 1867-69: the Reconstruction Acts and the Impeachment of Johnson; the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 517-534

Apr. 28
The Election of 1868 and the Passage of the Fifteenth Amendment

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 535-541

May 1
The Grant Administration: Suppression of the Klan and the Corruption Issue

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 541-560

May 3
The Elections of 1872 and 1876 and the End of Reconstruction

• McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, 560-609