Department of History, The University of British Columbia, 2017-18, Term One

H331

History of the U.S.A, 1865-1900: Labour, Race, Gender, & Empire

Prof. Paul KrauseOffice Phone: 604.822.5168; e-mail: krause at mail dot ubc dot ca

Home Page: http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/pkrause/index.html

Lectures: Tues. & Thurs., 3:30-5:00, Math 203

Office Hours: Tues., 1:30-3:00 pm, 1122 Buchanan Tower

OVERVIEW

H331 examines the social, political, and cultural history of the United States from the Civil War to the turn of the century. The principal readings examine what at first glance may appear to be discrete historical problems. But each of these problems is related by way of common themes: the meaning and nature of democracy, such as it was – and might be – in the U.S.A.; the relationship of democracy to economic and political power, including the violent exercise of such power; and the ability of ostensibly subordinate collectivities and individuals to confront such power, often, as we shall see, with notable creativity and courage. In our effort to conceptualize the past as clearly as possible, it will be helpful to pay close attention to the questions of race, gender, labour, and empire and, in general, to try to see the past as a set of problems, and not as a simple narrative of events.

TEXTS & READINGS

The books cited below may be purchased at the UBC Bookstore. Most of them also are available, in used condition, on-line or at bookstores in the area.

Garry Wills, Lincoln at At GettysburgNicholas Lemann, Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil WarHarold Livesay, Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big BusinessIda Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All its PhasesAndrew Isenberg, The Destruction of the Bison

The Course Pack, Web-based Texts, & Web Sites for Films, etc.:

The following additional readings are available either through the hyperlinks below, the Home Page for H331, or in the course pack, which is for sale at the UBC Bookstore:

p. 1, H331, term one, 2016-17

Course Pack

Richard Hofstadter, “Abraham Lincoln and the Self-Made Myth,” in The American Political Tradition, pp. 118-174.

Alan Brinkley, “Reconstructing the Nation,” pp. 451-79, in American History.Ellen Carol DuBois, Feminism and Suffrage: The Emergence of an Independent Women’s Movement in

America, pp. 53-104.Jack Beatty, Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900, pp. 303-376.Jeffrey Ostler, The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis & Clark to Wounded Knee, pp. 243-263

and 338-357.

Web-based Texts, Articles, Documents, & Presentations

The New York Times on the New Gilded Age, July 15, 2007; Responses to The Times, July 17, 2007.Paul Krause, The Battle for Homestead, 1880-1892: Politics, Culture, & Steel, digital edition available

from the University of Pittsburgh Press.Arthur Burgoyne, The Homestead Strike of 1892, digital edition available from the University of

Pittsburgh Press.Mark Twain, “The United States of Lyncherdom” (1923 [1901]); “The War Prayer” (1923 [1904-05]), also

available here; “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” (1901), which you also may read here; and “King Leopold’s Soliloquy” (1905), which is available here, here, or here.

Ida B. Wells, “Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases,” (1892-94).Eric Foner, “The Meaning of Freedom in the Age of Emancipation,” The Journal of American History, Vol.

81, No. 2. (Sep., 1994), pp. 435-460, available on JSTOR.Winslow Homer, “Near Andersonville” (also available here) and “The Gulf Stream,” which is the subject

of this helpful web-based guide.Peter H. Wood, lecture on “Near Andersonville,” Harvard University, October 2009.

We will be viewing a series of video presentations that correspond to the readings. These films will be shown in class, once only, and are not generally available, although some have helpful web sites and do provide streaming of the full videos. Among the more important of the documentaries that we will study are the following:

p. 2, H331, term one, 2016-17

“Reconstruction: The Second Civil War”“The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie”“The Rise & Fall of Jim Crow”“We Shall Remain: America Through Native Eyes – Geronimo”

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE & SOME PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS

As indicated above, H331 looks at some key problems in U.S. History from the end of the Civil War into the late 1890s. These years embrace four overlapping “periods” whose names have been adopted by the general public and by most historians. In H331, we will be looking at the years conventionally known as:

1.) Reconstruction , from 1863 through 1877;2.) The Gilded Age , from the early 1870s into the 1890s;3.) The Nadir in the history of Americans of African ancestry, from 1877 into the 20th Century,

also known as the period of Jim Crow; and4.) The Age of (Imperial) Expansion, 1867-1900 .

Here is an interesting video from the allegedly educational TV cartoon show, School House Rock, c. 1975, entitled “Elbow Room.” This startling video conflates eras – and also erases and/or banalizes important parts of the past. In some ways, it may be the most important document you will study in H331. What do you make of it? Later in the term, you may be asked to answer this question by way of writing a critical essay.

Over and above the myriad problems raised by “Elbow Room,” you may want to ask yourselves, as we go along, this question: to what extent are the conventional names for the periods covered by H331 appropriate and accurate? As you will see, each of these periods, and each of the more specific historical problems that we shall tackle, was shaped by a series of conflicts, and therefore by conflicting visions, regarding the most fundamental questions of democracy, freedom, and social justice. In order to understand these conflicts and the visions that informed them, you will need to pay very careful attention to the question of power and to what extent certain groups exercised power. This will necessitate your identifying the key actors in each historical problem we investigate, and then trying to understand their motivations, aspirations, and values. It therefore also will necessitate trying to answer, for each problem, the following questions: Who did what to whom? Why? How? To what extent was the “who” successful? Why? What was the broader meaning of this success, and what were – and are – its implications for the people of the U.S., and for you?

As we shall see, the “whom” who often have been conceptualized as passive objects of action, and therefore as victims or observers of certain historical processes, in truth have done their own acting, and have acted upon those very groups and individuals typically thought of as possessing sole ownership of historical agency. So, please be equally mindful of how the “whom” acted on their own, of why and how they acted the way that they did, of the extent to which the “whom” were successful, and of the larger implications of their success – including any implications such success may have for you.

p. 3, H331, term one, 2016-17

The following table lists the historical problems that we will explore and the geographic regions where they were focused. As noted, you will be obligated to identify the key actors in each problem – in each historical drama, if you will – and also bring them into action with, and against, each other.

PROBLEMS KEY TEXTS (author)

KEY VIDEOS PRINCIPAL REGIONS

KEY ACTORS?

1.) Emancipation, Reconstruction, & Restoration – Men & Women, White & Black

Hofstadter BrinkleyWillsLemannDuBois

“Reconstruction: The Second Civil War”

The South, in general; Louisiana & Mississippi, in particular;Washington, D.C.; Kansas

Make your own chart for this question, complete with rows dedicated to the questions cited in the paragraphs just above.

2.) The Nadir & Jim Crow

Lemann WellsTwain, “Lyncherdom”

“The Rise & Fall of Jim Crow”“The Birth of a Nation”

The South

3.) The Agrarian Revolt & Populism

Beatty “All God’s Dangers”

The South,Mid-West, & Central Plains

4.) Workers & Businessmen, Labour & Capital

HofstadterLivesayKrause

“The Richest Man in the World”

The Northeast &Mid-West

6.) The Imperial Republic: Domestic & ‘Foreign’ Relations

OstlerTwain, “War Prayer” & “Sitting in Darkness”

“The Way West”“Last Stand at Little Big Horn”“Geronimo”

The West & the Great Plains

The Philippines & Cuba

7. ) The Imperial Republic, Global Environmental History, & ‘The Unsustainable Exploitation of Nature’

IsenbergTwain, redux

The West & the Great Plains

p. 4, H331, term one, 2016-17

WHAT ARE THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF H331?

Students who successfully complete this course will possess an understanding of many of the broad problems and themes in U.S. History from the end of the Civil War through 1900. H331 puts forward a number of arguments, as well as an interpretive scheme, and one of your tasks will be to confront and criticize these arguments and this interpretive scheme so that you may better formulate your own. The creation of your personal narrative of U.S. History in the period under study stands as the larger goal of H331. There are other, more specific goals. By the end of the term, you should be able to:

1. Describe, explain, and assess the outcome of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow, taking care to engage the problems of race, gender, and economic position.

2. Explain and analyze the rise, and demise, of the U.S. agrarian insurgency and the reasons why this movement to a large extent has disappeared from conventional historical memory.

3. Assess the conflict between the worlds of labour and of capital in the late 19 th Century, explain the outcome of this conflict, and evaluate its contemporary significance.

4. With specific reference to the Cheyenne Nation and the Sioux Nation, explain and analyze the conflict between the United States and the indigenous peoples of Western North America.

5. Analyze the rise of the United States as a global power, and relate its ascendance to the nation’s domestic political culture.

6. With particular reference to Mark Twain, arguably America’s greatest writer of the late 19 th Century, assess the meaning of American democracy from the end of the Civil War to the end of the Spanish-American War.

7. Explain the destruction of the Western Bison and the significance of this story for global history.

8. Offer some preliminary explanations about why you look at U.S. History in the ways that you do, and discuss how and why your values have shaped your understanding of the past, in general.

HOW CAN I SUCCEED IN THIS COURSE? WHAT WILL BE EXPECTED OF ME

In the realm of marks, your success will depend upon careful reading and note-taking, a willingness to take intellectual risks, and a desire to explore what the novelist and critic Ralph Ellison once labeled the “tradition of forgetfulness…, of denying the past, of converting the tragic realities of ourselves but most often of others, even if those others are of our own group, into comedy.”

Participation in the lectures and discussions is an essential part of your success. What does participation mean? It means active engagement with your colleagues; it means asking questions and listening carefully to others; it means trying to answer questions and having the courage to share your ideas; it means coming to class prepared – that is, coming to class with having completed the reading. On some days, our discussions will be brief; on other days, we will collectively dig more expansively into the materials we are studying. If you are shy or predisposed to maintain silence in a group, you will not be penalized; just drop by my office to let me know that you find public speaking to be a difficult, if not impossible, task. No questions will be asked, and perhaps we can find a means of awarding bonus points for you. All those who find a way to speak in public are eligible for a maximum of 10 bonus points/marks, but bear in mind that such points/marks will be awarded on the basis of the quality, and not quantity, of your contributions, and especially on how well you can respond with integrity, courage,

p. 5, H331, term one, 2016-17

and empathy to your colleagues – especially when you may disagree with them.Each of us shares the responsibility for how well H331 will work. Accordingly, we need to build

an environment where everyone feels welcome, where all of our ideas are respected, and where they can be explored and criticized. This means above all that it is our shared responsibility to ensure that everyone in the class is comfortable in it, and that no one feel ill-at-ease for reasons of age or gender, economic standing, political preference, race, ethnic or religious background, national origin, or sexual orientation. It therefore follows that jokes at anyone’s expense other than that of the instructor are not permitted. You can always make fun of me, as I am a willing and easy target, but please refrain from making fun of your colleagues. What may seem like a harmless joke to you may not be a joke to someone else, and the results of the unintended but nonetheless real hurt and pain of an alleged joke are almost always impossible to obliterate. Please be careful.

The issues of workplace safety and of sexual assault and predation are of paramount importance, and they require that all of us adhere to codes of behavior – in and out of the classroom and wherever we encounter each other – that respect the emotional and physical integrity of all of our colleagues, and the well-known, established behavioral boundaries which, as we are reminded on a daily basis, continue to be breached – as they have been at UBC and indeed in the Department of History itself. My expectation is that all of us will abide by the guidelines for appropriate behavior outlined by UBC, as well as by these more directly stated standards of H331.

I have some understanding of how to negotiate the bureaucracies at UBC; should you have need of assistance regarding the problem of predation and assault, I stand ready to direct you to empathic, wise persons on campus who can provide professional support. In this, I can assure you of utter confidentiality.

UBC has a policy on the matter of respectful environments for students, faculty, and staff. It is available here: http://www.hr.ubc.ca/respectful-environment/. And you may find some of UBC’s recent updates on the issue of sexual assault and workplace safety here: http://www.ubc.ca/staysafe/. The university has stated that it is in the process of revising its policies on sexual assault. Check out the updates here: http://equity.ubc.ca/. Additional links to recent problems at UBC may be found at this page on my web site: http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/pkrause/page22.html. I will be updating this page, and others, on a regular basis.

No one likes to deal with marks, but they are a fact of our university lives. In H331, you will be rewarded for consistently doing your work over the course of the entire term, as your reader’s reports on our assigned texts will provide you with an opportunity to enhance your mark – and also will help you prepare for the final written assignment. The details about the reports and of the final may be found below.

In general, the marking for H331 follows these guidelines: Work that receives an “A” is inspired: it demonstrates a thorough grasp of the material and an original understanding of it. Work that receives a “B” means that it constitutes a strong performance and demonstrates a good understanding of the material. Note that a “C” in this class means that you have done pretty well and that you have attained an adequate comprehension of the material we cover. In order to get this mark, you must do all of the work and complete all of the reading. Work that receives a “D” is inadequate, usually because it contains serious gaps and misunderstandings. An “F” will be awarded if your work is completely inadequate, that is, if it reveals that you have no real understanding of the material we have covered.

Remember that marks are merely an evaluation of your work, and not a comment on your intelligence. They are not an evaluation of you as a person. And they are not a comment on how hard you have worked. It is possible in this class to work very hard – the hardest you have ever worked in a class at UBC – and still receive a “B” or a “C.” Curiously, perhaps, the more you concentrate on marks

p. 6, H331, term one, 2016-17

and on the results, the less well you may do. In learning, it is the process that matters and, I believe, it is the process which in the end determines the results. So, work hard, take notes when you read – I can help with strategies about this – and ask questions. If you can do this, the results should take care of themselves.

If you are experiencing difficulties with the readings, please come see me. We can discuss the troublesome material or, if you like, some general strategies for doing the work in H331. Don’t wait until November; drop by early in the term. I always am happy to meet with students. Really.

ARE THERE ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDANCE, DEADLINES, AND INTEGRITY?YES – HERE THEY ARE:

What we do in class will help you make sense out of our readings, which are the core of this course. Therefore, attendance is mandatory. If you have a valid reason for missing a class, please let me know in advance by sending an e-mail to me at: krause @ mail dot ubc dot ca. If you become seriously ill or have any sort of crisis that interferes with your work, please let me know so that we can discuss strategies for dealing with the situation and possible exceptions to our regular deadlines. If you do not inform me of the extraordinary circumstances that you may be facing, all work must be completed on time. You will find me sympathetic and flexible if you find yourself in a difficult situation; however, if you do not inform me, in advance, you will be expected to complete your work on time.

In the realm of academic integrity, you are expected to refrain from cheating, lying, or engaging in acts of plagiarism. All written work in H331 should be prepared and completed by each individual student. If, in the final paper, you borrow someone’s words or ideas, they should be cited in the proper manner. For guidance on writing and on professional integrity, in addition to the web sites listed on my “writing page” (http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/pkrause/writing%20links%20and%20tips.html), see: https://www.history.ubc.ca/content/common-questions-about-citations and http://help.library.ubc.ca/planning-your-research/academic-integrity-pla.... You may also want to check out UBC’s policies on academic misconduct: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959.

As the university has explained, “Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars, etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations.” The official policy of the university also holds that it “accommodates students with disabilities” and accommodates students whose religious obligations conflict with attendance, submitting assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. So, in the immediate days ahead, and preferably in the first week of class, let me know if you will require any sort of accommodation. And note that students who plan to be absent for varsity athletics, family obligations, or other similar commitments, cannot assume that they will be accommodated.

For the most up-to-date explanation of the university’s policies regarding academic concessions, see this page on the web: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,48,0,0.

Please understand that the readings must be completed before our class meets on Tuesdays. By university standards, there is a moderate amount of reading in this course. If you decide to enroll, be certain that you are prepared to do the reading and to submit your work on time.

p. 7, H331, term one, 2016-17

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR MARKS & REQUIREMENTS

Consistent attendance, conscientious reading, and attentive and civil participation are essential parts of your work in this course. In this realm, as in all others, strict adherence to the principles of academic integrity is expected. Again, plagiarism, in any form, will not be tolerated. Above all, please remember that all authors own their ideas, words, and research; you therefore must give appropriate credit, typically in the form of quotations and footnotes, when using the work of another scholar. Plagiarism, whether or not it is “intentional,” is a serious violation of UBC’s standards; violations of the standards will be prosecuted. If your work is late, if you feel under pressure, do anything but cheat, please. Do not jeopardize your career and your good name for the sake of a mark in H331. It’s just not worth it. If you rely upon the ideas of another scholar, make certain that you give appropriate credit to the scholar.

And please take great care when using resources on the Web. Many can prove helpful, but a significant number, however, can be misleading – including, of course, Wikipedia. Be certain that unattributed sentences gleaned from the Web do not find their way into your written submissions for H331. Failure to be vigilant about this matter inevitably will raise questions about academic integrity.

Your written assignments must be:

1. Prepared only on a typewriter or a computer. Handwritten work is not acceptable. And faxes or e-mails of your work cannot be accepted by the Department of History.

2. Double-spaced and formatted in a simple, easy-to-read font, such as Times New Roman. The size of the font must be 12-point.

3. Set so it has margins of one inch on both sides, and at the top and bottom.4. Numbered by pages and stapled in the upper left corner. (Do not use paper clips or creative

folding.)5. Backed-up, always, at regular intervals. (I recommend every three minutes.) Use a USB mini-

drive, an external hard drive, a network storage service, and/or a hard copy. Computer or printer crashes or problems are not acceptable reasons for late submissions.

The Faculty of Arts requires that written work conform to accepted standards of English expression; if writing does not meet such standards, it cannot be evaluated.

Late work cannot be accepted, except under the extraordinary circumstances discussed above. Regular attendance should put virtually everyone in a position to achieve marks with which he or she is happy. The key is doing the reading, on time, and coming to class, prepared. Remember that the weekly readings must be completed before the Tuesday lecture.

Here are the approximate weightings of the requirements for H331:

p. 8, H331, term one, 2016-17

Assignment Date Due Approximate Weight

Autobiographical statement on your expectations and on the reasons for your enrollment in H331. Build the statement upon a brief intellectual history of yourself and your development as a thinker.

1-page maximum.

Thursday, Sept. 13, at the beginning of class.

Mandatory, but no mark awarded.

Two percentage points deducted from final mark if not submitted on time.

Brief reading notes on the weekly assignments. One-page maximum. Must be typed/printed, and will be collected at the beginning of class. Guidelines can be found below.

Throughout the term. Only 5 will be marked, on a scale of 0-10, and the submission with the lowest mark will not be counted.

40%. Each of the top four assignments therefore carries with it a weight of 10% of the final grade.

Participation in lectures and discussions. Please note that, as explained above, in this realm it is quality and not quantity that matters.

Throughout the term 10% bonus.No one will be penalized if she or he finds it difficult to speak. In such instances, alternate ways to earn bonus marks may be considered. See me soon to discuss such possibilities.

Final Paper. See the sample questions below. They will help focus your reading, and the actual questions will doubtless be modeled on these samples, with changes that reflect the interests and questions of our class. I will direct your attention to these sample questions, and how you might answer them, throughout the term.

During Exam Period, date TDB.The actual questions will be distributed well in advance, and there will be ample opportunity to discuss them with your colleagues and with me, publicly and privately.

60%

READING NOTES

These one-page assignments are due each Tuesday. If there is more than one reading, do a one-page response for each text that you have read. The reading notes are intended to assist you in mastering and evaluating what you have read, and they also should help our discussions. Additionally, your notes will help you understand the larger patterns that inform the course of U.S. History from 1865 to 1900, and therefore your notes will help you prepare for the final written exercise in December. Do not use any outside sources in writing these notes. They are your notes, and only your words and thoughts belong in these notes.

Each reading response should be: 1. Printed on one side of a standard 8”x11” piece of paper. 2. Headed by the name of the author and an abbreviated title on the left side, and by your

p. 9, H331, term one, 2016-17

name on the right side.3. Divided into two sections:

A.) A statement of the thesis or argument of the book, article, or primary source.B.) A critical assessment of the reading, including an evaluation of the argument, of the

quality and use of evidence, and of any questions that the reading suggests. You might also consider the following: What does the text tell you that is surprising or unexpected about history, politics, and/or culture? What was the author’s intent in writing it? What did she or he want you to learn from what you have read?

Again, only five sets of the reading notes will be marked, and the submission with the lowest score will not be counted.

WRITING

Writing is fundamental to learning in the liberal arts and humanities. If we do not write about what we read and study, it becomes virtually impossible to understand what we read and study. Flannery O’Connor, a gifted American writer, put it more or less like this: “I don’t know what I think until I see what I write – and then I have to write it again.” (E.M. Forster’s version may be better: “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”)

O’Connor meant that she could not know her own thinking until she wrote down her thoughts, and then, to achieve a clearer understanding, she would have to rewrite, and rewrite, and rewrite. O’Connor, like most writers, understood that writing is not really about writing – it is about rewriting. To succeed in writing, it usually is necessary to follow O’Connor’s sage advice. More concretely, it also is necessary to avoid the problems that habitually appear in many papers, among them:

* Paragraphs that lack topic sentences, ramble or contain more than one main idea, or are not logically connected.

* Sentences that are not logically connected.* Assuming that your reader understands what you are writing about.* Failure to “set-up” and introduce quotations – and then explain them.* Failure to answer or confront the question. (To answer the question, you have to read it

carefully. Then, you need to ask yourself: what questions do I have to answer in order to answer the question? In other words, what do I need to know to answer the question? Also, and possibly most important: what does my reader need to know to understand what I am saying and arguing?)

Please consider the following writing tips from the writer and critic George Orwell that are lifted from his essay, “Politics and the English Language:”

* Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. * Never use a long word where a short one will do. * If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. * Never use the passive where you can use the active. (Why?)* Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday

English equivalent.

Finally, here are some “Elementary Principles of Composition” (From The Elements of Style):

p. 10, H331, term one, 2016-17

* Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph to each topic. Ordinarily… a subject requires subdivision into topics, each of which should be made the subject of a paragraph. The object of treating each topic in a paragraph by itself is, of course, to aid the reader. The beginning of each paragraph is a signal to him (or her) that a new step in the development of the subject has been reached.

* As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning. Again, the object is to aid the reader. The practice here recommended enables him (or her) to discover the purpose of each paragraph as he begins to read it, and to retain the purpose in mind as he (or she) ends it. For this reason, the most generally useful kind of paragraph, particularly in exposition and argument, is that in which:

* The topic sentence comes at or near the beginning;* The succeeding sentences explain or establish or develop the statement made in the

topic sentence; and,* The final sentence either emphasizes the thought of the topic sentence or states some

important consequence. (Ending with a digression, or with an unimportant detail, is particularly to be avoided.)

You may find that many of these suggestions will lead you away from paths that you ordinarily follow when writing, and that the new paths can prove to be quite difficult and downright painful. Writing can be rewarding, but it is not always fun. As the journalist Gene Fowler, with characteristic sarcasm, once remarked, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” The great German writer Thomas Mann, with (characteristically enough) less humor, offered this somber assessment of those who write: “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

The written assignments for H331 are based upon an understanding of how difficult it is to write, and therefore of how important it is to begin with the basics. In the effort to understand and master them, you may sweat blood and experience some difficulties, but you also may come to know more clearly what you think and therefore who you are. Start early; do not wait until the exam period to begin your final essay. You will have the questions well in advance, and there will be ample time to discuss them with your colleagues and with the instructor.

SAMPLE ESSAY QUESTIONS AND CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION YOUR WRITING

For the final written exercise, which will be due during the examination period:

1.) The historian Richard Hofstadter, in writing about Abraham Lincoln, observed that “the competitive society out of which the success myth and the self-made man have grown may accept the Christian virtues in principle but can hardly observe them in practice.” Evaluate Hofstadter's comments in light of your understanding of the life and times of Andrew Carnegie. (Hint: superior essays will take into account the agrarian insurgency, Reconstruction, and the foreign relations of the American Republic in the late 19th Century.)

2.) In what ways can the life of Andrew Carnegie be interpreted as exemplary of the broad issues, trends, and conflicts that characterized Gilded-Age America? In answering this, be certain to

p. 11, H331, term one, 2016-17

consider Carnegie’s involvement in the Homestead Lockout of 1892 and the values and aspirations of those who opposed him there. Hints: superior essays will take into account the agrarian insurgency, Reconstruction, and the foreign relations of the American Republic in the late 19 th Century. And do not interpret this question as its asking for a biographical overview of Carnegie. Rather, focus on the issues, trends, and conflicts that informed US History in the Gilded Age.

3.) We have studied a wide range of people and issues in our effort to understand the United States in the late 19th Century. Taking into account the multiple problems we have explored this term, and with an eye aimed at offering your own definition, assess the evolving meaning of democracy in the United States from the 1860s into the 1890s. Your answer should offer a series of descriptions, as well as analyses of the descriptions, and it should engage each of the seven modules of the course.

4.) With specific reference to the Sioux Nation, explain and analyze the conflict between the United States and the indigenous peoples of Western North America in the late 19 th Century. How do you assess the significance of this conflict? Are there any parallels that you can draw between this conflict and the one that raged between white Southerners and African-Americans in the years following the Civil War? Do you see any parallels between the resistance offered by the Sioux and that by African-Americans?

5.) In his article on the meaning of freedom in the 19th Century, the historian Eric Foner argues that an important result of the battles of Reconstruction was the idea that economic and political freedom came to occupy separate and unrelated spheres. What does Foner mean by this, and what is the significance of his argument? Does your understanding of U.S. History from 1865 through the 1890s support and/or contradict Foner’s interpretation? How and where does the issue of gender and of women’s rights figure in the meanings of post-Civil War freedom?

6.) In the early 1830s, the French writer and politician Alexis de Tocqueville crossed the Atlantic to travel in the United States. In his famous book, Democracy in America, de Tocqueville published his observations and findings, some of which concerned the relationship of the emerging economic and political order and its compatibility with democracy. De Tocqueville, as was explained in class, had doubts about such compatibility: “I am of the opinion, on the whole, that the manufacturing aristocracy which is growing up under our eyes is one of the harshest that ever existed in the world; but at the same time it is one of the most confined and least dangerous. Nevertheless, the friends of democracy should keep their eyes anxiously fixed in this direction; for if ever a permanent inequality of conditions and aristocracy again penetrates into the world, it may be predicted that this is the gate by which they will enter.” In light of your understanding of the course of U.S. History from the 1860s through the 1890s, evaluate de Tocqueville’s assessment and prediction.

7.) In February, 1901, Mark Twain, looking back over the second half of the 19 th Century, and considering the course of the on-going hostilities in the Philippines, created a fictional “Person Sitting in Darkness” who offered the following observations about the USA: “There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive’s new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land.” Explain Twain’s remarks by way of constructing an argument about them – one that situates his remarks in the context of the essay from which they have been lifted, Twain’s “The War Prayer” and his “The United States of Lyncherdom,” and your own understanding of U.S. History from the 1860s through the 1890s. In what ways do Twain’s comments apply to the history of the Western Plains Indians and the U.S. Government in the Gilded Age?

p. 12, H331, term one, 2016-17

8.) Brooklyn Bridge, built with steel that was produced in mills owned by Andrew Carnegie, was dedicated in 1883. The ceremonies were quite spectacular: the President attended, a future President also was there, and thousands of New Yorkers came to celebrate. The main speaker was Congressman Abram Hewitt, a friend of Carnegie, a leader of the Democratic Party, and a very wealthy metalmaker. Hewitt declared that the bridge signified the triumph of technology over nature and constituted a peculiarly American genius. Another keynote speaker, the Rev. Richard Storrs, said that it was important to note that the bridge was made of steel, and that steel is “the chiefest of modern instruments” and “the kingliest instrument of peoples for subduing the earth.” The bridge, he went on to say, was “a durable monument to Democracy itself.” Hewitt, for his part, concluded that the bridge in fact was “a monument to the moral qualities of the human soul.”

Interpret these remarks as you see fit, taking care to put forward an argument about, and an assessment of, the meaning of democracy and of the moral qualities of the collective American soul in the Gilded Age. Be certain that your response engages the issue of steelmaking and the continent-wide uses of steel.

9.) The social and literary critic Walter Benjamin once remarked that “there is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.” Edward Said, the author of Orientalism, extended Benjamin’s aphorism by way of the following comments: “What appears real and objective from TV or the newspaper is the result … of choices, of constructions, of a great deal of hiding of other realities. Walter Benjamin says every document of civilization is also a document of barbarism. What we see as real immediately is only a fraction of the truth. It is the role of the intellect not just to amass expert information, but much more basically, to question and, yes, to challenge the framework of knowledge – to ask about the hidden costs or barbarism, to ask for whom is this knowledge useful and why is it set up this way, for whom does this objective news, as it's sometimes called, serve as a reality, for what end, ethical or unethical, is a war declared, a missile deployed, a distant people punished, and so on. The greatest danger to the educated mind is that it should be made silent or stilled in its restlessness, its volatility, its need to ask provocative questions that challenge authority…. Most of what is presented as reality is the result of constructions and representations that I believe have to be looked at as having a history which is very often either forgotten, or hidden or distorted.”

Explain and evaluate Said’s gloss on Benjamin by way of constructing an argument that engages at least four of the modules in H331.

10.) What master narrative of American History does Andrew Isenberg engage and attack in The Destruction of the Bison, and what counter narrative does he put forward? In answering, evaluate and assess this counter narrative, taking care to explain what it seeks to teach, as well as what it may overlook. A superior answer inevitably will rely on its own interpretive narrative of late 19 th-Century American History.

11.) The following passage, found on page 98 of Nicholas Lemann’s Redemption, was part of the majority report of the congressional committee that investigated the “Vicksburg Troubles.” Lemann argues that these words effectively summed up the choices facing the United States in Reconstruction and recognized the high stakes that were involved. With reference to the Vicksburg Troubles, and to the outcome of Reconstruction in Mississippi, evaluate Lemann’s assertion. Does his book support the assertion? Explain how and why.

p. 13, H331, term one, 2016-17

12.) Some historians have argued that Reconstruction should be viewed primarily as a series of political problems, while others have argued that it should be viewed as a series of economic problems. How do you think Reconstruction should be conceptualized – through the lens of politics? Or through the lens of economics? Both? Neither? Separately? Together? Answer by way of constructing an interpretive narrative, and ground the narrative in the Reconstruction-Era history of the state of Mississippi.1

13.) To what extent were black Americans active agents in the making of Reconstruction? What were the limits on black agency, and how did these limits inform the un-making of Reconstruction? Please remember to use Mississippi as a case study.

1 This question draws upon the writing and teaching of Prof. David Blight.

p. 14, H331, term one, 2016-17

Evaluations of Essays

Essays will be evaluated on the basis of three broad categories:

1. Argument and structure – 50% : Essays should present an argument, and they should be structured in a way that allows the reader to follow the developing lines of the argument. Therefore, essays should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should be concise and should put forth a thesis statement. An important part of the assignment is to define a question or problem and try to answer it. The answer effectively constitutes the argument, and it forms the body. The body should be well-organized and built upon logically connected paragraphs, each of which has a topic sentence and a “punch line.” The conclusion should recapitulate the thesis statement or main point, and make it clear to the reader why what you have written is important.

2. Content and Evidence – 25% : The best essays utilize evidence in creative ways and integrate the evidence into the logical presentation of the argument. And the best essays demonstrate original and critical thinking. Your main points should be supported by direct reference to a text, and evidence always is required to corroborate the main points of your argument. Simple assertions of your opinions will not do. Sometimes you will need to paraphrase a text. Why? Because you are writing for an audience which is as clever as you but which has no knowledge of the texts you are engaging. (Writing in such a way ensures that you will not overlook logical and evidentiary connections.)

3. Style, presentation, and use of language – 25% : Is your writing precise and engaging? Is it grammatical? Inappropriate usage, awkward syntax, and wordiness can hurt. Remember what Abraham Lincoln wrote about the connections between clear writing and clear thinking: weakness in writing typically indicates feebleness in thought. (Here, Lincoln was not criticizing another person; rather he was commenting on his own rhetorical struggles.)

p. 15, H331, term one, 2016-17