Race and Reconstruction in America

Catalog description

Taking as a starting point the historical period, 1864-1901, designated as the Reconstruction era in the United States, this course will explore the effect of the Civil War and efforts to rebuild the shattered republic while forging a more egalitarian Union. We will also explore the legacies of both the War and of Reconstruction, and their affect upon our understanding of race in the South and in the country as a whole. As we explore the events, debates, politics, and personalities that mark this period, we will also draw upon the imaginative works of authors ranging from Frederick Douglass, Mark Twain, and W.E.B. Du Bois to Stephen Crane, Frances Harper, and Louisa May Alcott. As the country contends with the political and cultural fallout that attends African American citizenship, these writers will represent race sometimes as a "problem" for the country and sometimes as a source of power and pride. Finally, we will discuss the extent to which we are still, in twenty-first century America, engaged in acts of Reconstruction.