History 201-206 seminars are open to history majors only during pre-registration. If the course does not reach its enrollment maximum, it will be open to all students beginning with drop/add on a first-come first-serve basis.
HIST 204 Politics of Disunion, 1848 - 1876
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
R | SEM
The major socio-economic, cultural, racial, ethnic and religious elements of antebellum America came together to produce a political transformation that destroyed the old party structures and nearly destroyed the Union itself. From that crisis evolved the Third American Party System that survives in most part to this day. That change facilitated the transformation of the U.S. from a primarily agrarian, rural nation to a primarily industrial, urban one. Because all of this occurred within the context of a devastating civil war, the nuances and complexities of the political reformation are sometimes overlooked. This seminar will employ interdisciplinary sources and methodologies to explore the interaction of political and non-political forces in the process of party reorganization between 1830 and 1880. Extensive use will be made of the Civil War-era holdings of Van Pelt Library and of the Crisis of the Union Electronic Archives. Students will also be encouraged to utilize the rich holdings in local repositories such as the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Civil War Museum.
