CIVIL WAR MODULE - RESOURCES
I. Timelines
The political, economic, and cultural forces surrounding the Civil War are numerous. We recommend consulting one or more of the following resources to keep yourself oriented in time:
Civil War Timeline, courtesy of Professors John Stauffer and Amanda Claybaugh, Harvard University Department of English
Ohio State University Timeline
Timeline of Harvard in the Civil War through a Photographic Lens
II. Books
For a general overview of the Civil War period, we recommend the following books:
The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis Masur
This Republic of Suffering, by Drew Faust
Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, by David Blight
The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song That Marches On, by John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence, by Martha Minow
The Republic in Crisis, 1848–1861, by John Ashworth
Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World, by David Brion Davis
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, by Eric Foner
The Civil War And Reconstruction: A Documentary Collection, edited by William Gienapp
The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina, by Manisha Sinha
The Scorpion’s Sting: Antislavery and the Coming of the Civil War, by James Oakes
The Civil War: Told by Those Who Lived It, edited by Brooks D. Simpson, Stephen W. Sears, and Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War, by Megan Kate Nelson
America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation, by David Goldfield
Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848-1877, by Brenda Wineapple
The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War, by Don H. Doyle
Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, by Allen Guelzo
Clouds of Glory:The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee, by Michael Korda
Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History, by John Fabian Witt
From Battlefields Rising: How the Civil War Transformed American Literature, by Randall Fuller
Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865, by James Oakes
The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation, by David Brion Davis
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James McPherson
Mourning Lincoln, by Martha Hodes
Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War, by Edmund Wilson
III. Archival Collections
Below is a list of archival collections and online exhibitions from several universities and museums. Browse through the images, manuscripts, and other artifacts to get a feel for the era:
“Boston’s Crusade Against Slavery,” an online exhibition curated under the direction of Professor John Stauffer, Harvard University, and Houghton Library
Foundation for the National Archives, Civil War Resources
The Civil War Collection at Penn State
Civil War Collections at Michigan State
Virginia Tech Special Collections - American Civil War Manuscript Guides
University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries - Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Civil War Era Collection at Gettysburg College
University of Virginia Etext Center
IV. Additional Online Courses for Historical Background
For those who wish to gain a bit more historical background--or for those who simply love history--we suggest the following online courses. Note: Although the edX course taught by Professor Eric Foner has already closed, students can still access archived materials course materials by signing up for the class.
The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850-1861, Part I of an edX course by Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University
The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1865, Part II of an edX course by Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University
The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1865-1890, Part III of an edX course by Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University
The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877, an Open Yale Series course taught by David W. Blight, the Class of 1954 Professor of American History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale
RESOURCES TO HELP YOU READ CLOSELY
DICTIONARIES
Many libraries will have this dictionary in print or via institutional subscription.
The OED is the authoritative historical dictionary for the English language: word entries includes extensive etymologies, definitions past and present, and quotations demonstrating how a word has been used over time. Additional features of the online edition include a Timeline, Historical Thesaurus, and a “Categories” tool that allows you to browse words by subject, usage, region, or origin.
An excellent dictionary that offers some content free online, including etymology and usage notes. To find a print edition in a library near you, try WorldCat.
FOR LITERARY TERMS AND GENRES:
- RPO Glossary
- Academy of American Poets (poets.org) “forms & techniques”
- Poetry Foundation browse poems by poetic terms (select “poetic terms” in the left menu)
- M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms
RESOURCES FOR EXPANDING WHAT YOU’VE READ: FINDING MORE POEMS, ONLINE OR IN YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY
There are several wonderful web portals dedicated to poetry and also poetry audio:
To find poetry (or any materials) in a library near you, try WorldCat. If you are outside of the United States, inquire at your local library about a union catalog that might be more helpful in locating resources near you.
To find full text online, try one of these sites:
The Digital Public Library of America links to digitized materials from archives across the country. For algorithmically enhanced serendipity, try the Serendip-O-Matic, which runs on the DPLA’s data.
RESOURCES TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT OF WHAT YOU READ
The Poetry Foundation has excellent biographies for many of the poets assigned in Poetry in America, including Emily Dickinson. Use the search box to find the poet you’re interested in.
The DPLA, the Library of Congress, and many other libraries and institutions have web tools for exploring particular topic. Many feature digitized content. When you explore the web for portals like these, always look for an “about” page that explains who publishes and maintains the website.
Harvard in the 17th and 18th Centuries, a Harvard University Archives research guide, offers background introductions with links to subject-based bibliographies, digitized materials, and much more.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a wonderful and freely available online resource for the history of thought.
If you’re looking for an introduction or an overview in a library catalog, try adding one of these words to a broad keyword search: encyclopedias, handbooks,companion, introduction, overview, casebook.
RESOURCES FOR FINDING OTHER SCHOLARS’ READINGS
In a library catalog, add “criticism and interpretation” to your keyword search to see scholarly criticism about that topic. For example, HERE is criticism and interpretation about Walt Whitman.
There’s nothing like a good recommendation. Karen Karbiener is one of the scholars Professor New consults in Poetry in America: you might start by searching WorldCat for books by Karen Karbiener. Once you find a good book or article, look at the notes and bibliography to find out about other criticism on the same and similar topics.
For later poetry (starting with Walt Whitman), the Modern American Poetry site maintained by Cary Nelson and Bartholomew Brinkman at the University of Illinois includes excerpts from major criticism.
Compiled by Odile Harter, Harvard University, 2013.
Updated by Leah Reis-Dennis, HarvardX, 2014.