Syllabus

The Insurgent South: Movements for Social Change

PPS 166/History 166A - Spring 2005
Tues/Thur11:40-12:55, Room 03 Sanford
Robert Korstad
rkorstad@duke.edu
613-7335
Office Hours:
Monday 1:30-2:30
Tuesday 1:00-2:00
Room 112 Sanford Institute
Teaching Assistants:
Gordon Mantler, gordon.mantler@duke.edu
Emily Hildebrand, esh11@duke.edu

Film Series Coordinator:
Chris Fregiato, Christopher.Fregiato@law.duke.edu

insurgent: “a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially: a rebel not recognized as a belligerent” (Websters)

insurgency: “the quality or state of being insurgent, specifically: a condition of revolt against a government that is less than an organized revolution and that is not recognized as belligerency” (Websters)

FORMAT

At the first class meeting of each section, Professor Korstad or a guest speaker will begin with an overview of the topic, the public policy issues to be analyzed, and their relevance for today. Before the second meeting, students will post a 500 word analytic essay on Blackboard based on the reading for the section. The discussion during the subsequent classes will draw on the reading and the student essays. There will also be a film series that will coincide with the course.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Reading

Books
1. William Cooper, Jr. and Thomas E. Terrill, The American South: A History, Volume II
2. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, James Leloudis, Robert Korstad, Mary Murphy, Lu Ann Jones and Christopher B. Daly, Like A Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World
3. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniels Ames and the Women’s Campaign Against Lynching
4. Robert Korstad, Civil Rights Unionism: Tobacco Workers and the Struggle for Democracy in the Mid-Twentieth Century South
5. Charles Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Movement

Books are available at the Duke Textbook Store.

Articles
Articles are listed below in the class schedule and are available under E-Reserves on Blackboard.

Papers

1. Two-page essays on the readings for seven of the nine sections.
Papers are due on Blackboard by 7:00 a.m. on the due date. (40%)

2. A 10-page paper on a specific social movement, some combination of social movements, or broader theme. A one-page prospectus identifying the specific question to be addressed is due March 29. (40%)

Class Participation

Participation in class discussion and Blackboard (5%)

Exam

There will be a one-hour final exam. You will be able to use your notes from the readings, lectures, and film series. (15 %)

Documentary Film Series

TBA

CLASS SCHEDULE

Introduction
January 13: What is the Insurgent South?

Black Reconstruction, Readjusters, and White Redemption
January 18 & 20
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapters 16, 17 & 18
W.E.B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction, Chapter VII, “Looking Forward”
Steven Hahn, A Nation Under Our Feet, Chapter 8, “Of Ballots and Biracialism”

Laborers, Farmers, and the Populist Moment
January 25, 27 & February 1
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapter 19, 20 & 21
Steven Hahn, A Nation Under Our Feet, Chapter 9, “The Valley and the Shadows”
Lawrence Goodwyn, “Populist Dreams and Negro Rights: East Texas as a Case Study”
Michael Honey, Democracy Betrayed, “Class, Race, and Power in the New South”

Woman Suffrage
February 3 & 8
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapter 22
Majorie Wheeler, “The Woman Suffrage Movement in the Inhospitable South”
Suzanne Lebsock, “Woman Suffrage and White Supremacy: A Virginia Case Study”
Glenda Gilmore, Gender and Jim Crow, Chapter 8, “Women and Ballots”

Revolt of the Lintheads
February 10,15 & 17
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapter 23
Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, James Leloudis, Robert Korstad, Mary Murphy, Lu Ann Jones and Christopher B. Daly, Like A Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World

Women and the Crusade Against Lynching
February 22, 24, & March 1
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapter 24
Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniels Ames and the Women’s Campaign Against Lynching

Black Workers in War and Peace
March 3, 8, & 10
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapter 25
Robert Korstad, Civil Rights Unionism: Tobacco Workers and the Struggle for Democracy in the Mid-Twentieth Century South

The Civil Rights Movement
March 22, 24, & 29
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapter 26
Charles Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Movement

The War on Poverty
March 31:The North Carolina Fund
Reading: Korstad and Leloudis, “Citizen Soldiers: The North Carolina Volunteers and the
War on Poverty”
http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/lcp/articles/lcp62dAutumn1999p177.htm

April 5: The Delta Health Center
Reading: Senate hearings, March 2-4, 6, 1970. David Weeks, Andrew James, Mrs. Coleman, Jack Geiger, L.C. Dorsey, Louis Young, Rogers Morris, John Hatch.

April 7:Appalachia
Reading: Chad Montrie, To Save the Land and People A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia, Chapter 5. “We Will Stop the Bulldozers: Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Kentucky, 1967-1972”

Grassroots Conservatism
April 12: Reaction to What?
Reading: Cooper and Terrill, Chapters 27 & 28
Van Gosse, “Postmodern America: A New Democratic Order in the Second Gilded Age”

April 14: The New Christian Right
Reading: Michael Lienesch, Redeeming America, Introduction

April 19: White Working-Class Baltimore
Reading: Kenneth D. Durr, Behind the Backlash, Chapters 6 & 7.

The Insurgent South Today
April 21 & 26

Exam
Monday, May 2 (2:00 PM - 5:00 PM)

Final Paper Due
Friday, May 6 (5:00 p.m.)