Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1846-1877
This booklist is taken from a course taught by David Blight of Yale University that explores the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War, from the 1840s to 1877. The primary goal of the course is to understand the multiple meanings of a transforming event in American history: national, sectional, racial, constitutional, individual, social, intellectual, or moral. Four broad themes are closely examined: the crisis of union and disunion in an expanding republic; slavery, race, and emancipation as national problem, personal experience, and social process; the experience of modern, total war for individuals and society; and the political and social challenges of Reconstruction. You can download the lectures of Professor Blight for free from the internet.
17 items
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Levine argues that the Civil War was an irrepressible conflict due to two different social structures in the north and south. Another book, adding even more layers to the argument, is What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe.
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Dew's short book examines the arguments of the leading proponents for secession to understand the causes of the Civil War.
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Faust's other book about Death in the Civil War is better than this one - but Blight loved the spotlight on Southern plantation mistresses as provide understanding for the causes and continuance of the war.
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Other important slave narratives were written by Solomon Northup, William Wells Brown, Soujourner Truth, and Josiah Henson. My favorite is Twelve Years a Slave by Northup, but teacher's like to use this book because of other writings by Douglass as a free man.
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McPherson's story of the Civil War serves as background reading for the course, which generally assumes that you've already covered much of the material here in a high school American History course.
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Florence Nightengale formed the first corps of organized nurses, but the American Civil War went even further. Alcott's story of her everyday experiences as a nurse illustrate that the war was not just experienced by the soldiers.
