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Reforging the Union: The Reconstruction Era in American History, 1865-1877

Module description

This module will examine the Reconstruction Era, a fundamental period of American history. This era, spanning from the end of the Civil War to the Compromise of 1877, analyses the post-war reconciliation and struggle between the North and South and includes topics such as the rise of the Ku Klux Klan or the establishment of Jim Crow laws and segregation. As such, it will be of value to any students interested in American race relations, civil rights, politics and culture. This module is suitable for undergraduates of various backgrounds and requires no specialist knowledge.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of the module is to:

• Introduce you to the rich range of sources available that allows historians to analyse the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877). This course will examine a variety of primary material relating to this period, from oral interviews to film and literature, in an effort to prepare you for more independent research.
• Give you the opportunity to conduct your own research into the source material, to consider its utility and limitations, and use it to explore particular topics and themes such as the mythology of the Lost Cause or the African-American experience. The module will focus on discussing the disputed territory of Reconstruction, and will emphasise topics on the cutting edge of research. Skills will be developed through oral presentation and reflection, and you will be expected to contribute to the historical debate over the nature of this period. Help you develop skills in source analysis and research that will provide a foundation for future projects such as your final-year dissertations.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Understand and assess the main developments in the Reconstruction Era in American history
• 2. Work critically with a range of written and visual sources relating to the Reconstruction Era

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Identify the problems of using historical sources, e.g. utility, limitations, etc, and compare the validity of different types of sources
• 4. Present work orally, respond to questions orally, and think quickly of questions to ask other students

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Conduct independent study and group work, including the presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning
• 6. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment
• 7. Work with others in a team and to interact effectively with the tutor and the wider group
• 8. Write to a very tight word-length

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination
• Radical Reconstruction
• the First Ku Klux Klan
• Federal prosecution and white vigilantism
• Corruption and Debt in the South
• the Redemption campaigns of the 1870s
• the African-American experience of Reconstruction
• Remembrance and Mythology of the Reconstruction Era

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Thomas J. Brown (ed.), Reconstructions: New Perspectives in the Postbellum United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
• Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 (New York: HarperPerennial, 2014).
• William A. Link and James J. Broomall, Rethinking American Emancipation: Legacies of Slavery and the Quest for Black Freedom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
• Elaine Frantz Parsons, Ku-Klux: The Birth of the Klan During Reconstruction (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2015).
• Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York, Oxford University Press, 1998).
• W.E.B Du Bois, Henry Louise Gates Jr. (ed.) Black Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE –  https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11939  

Key words search

United States of America, Race, Emancipation, Violence, civil war