“We cannot have free government without elections.”
–Abraham Lincoln, November 10, 1864
Required
- Baker, Jean H., ed. Votes for Women: The Struggle for Suffrage Revisited. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. [LIBRARY ONLINE]
- Gienapp, William E. Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. [LIBRARY ONLINE]
- O’Mara, Margaret. Pivotal Tuesdays: Four Elections That Shaped the Twentieth Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. [LIBRARY ONLINE]
Additional Readings
- Avlon, John. “George Washington’s Farewell Warning.” Politico (2017) [WEB]
- Brands, H.W. “Trump as the new Andrew Jackson?” Politico (2017) [WEB]
- Foner, Eric. “The Lost Promise of Reconstruction.” NY Times (2019) [WEB]
- Freeman, Joanne B. “Chapter 4: Dueling as Politics” in Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the Early Republic (2001) [LIBRARY / EBSCO]
- Harvey, China. Race for the White House: 1864. (Dickinson GRAD Summer 2016)
- House Divided Project. Lincoln-Douglas Debates Digital Classroom (2010).
- House Divided Project. Lincoln’s Writings: The Multi-Media Edition (2013)
- House Divided Project. Prince of Emancipation. Google Arts (2016)
- Kaplan, Leah. 1932 Socialists and Election Fraud. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Kaplan, Leah. Socialists and Students in 1936. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Keyssar, Alexander. “Strange Career of Voter Suppression.” NY Times (2012) [WEB]
- Keyssar, Alexander. “Why Has Electoral College Survived?” NY Times (2020) [WEB]
- Lyman, Ben. GI Ballots in 1944. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Nelligan, Will. Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Pinsker, Matthew. “Short History of Campaign Finance.” CS Monitor (1997) [WEB]
- Pinsker, Matthew. “Election of 1860.” C-SPAN (2010) [WEB]
- Pinsker, Matthew. “End of the Civil War.” Smithsonian (2015) [WEB]
- Pinsker, Matthew. “A.Lincoln, Conventioneer.” Muster: Journal of Civil War Era History (2016) [WEB]
- Poeton, Alex. Women Voters in 1912. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Porch, Scott. “The Book That Changed Campaigns Forever.” Politico (2015) [WEB]
- Schutte, Ryan. 1874 Elections in Eufaula. Dickinson College (Fall 2016)
- Slonim, Shlomo. “The Electoral College at Philadelphia: The Evolution of an Ad Hoc Congress for the Selection of a President.” Journal of American History 73 (June 1986): 35-58. [JSTOR]
- Sydnor, Charles. “Chapter 4: Swilling the Planters with Bumbo,” in Gentlemen Freeholders: Political Practices in Washington’s Virginia (1952) [LIBRARY / EBSCO]
- Troy, Gil. How an Outsider President Killed a Political Party. Politico (2016) [WEB]
- Wright, Peter. Election of 1884. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Wright, Peter. William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Dickinson College (Fall 2010)
- Zeitz, Joshua. Epic Fails of US Presidential History. Politico (2016) [WEB]
First Election Narrative (1776 – 1876)
By Friday, October 2, students will submit a 6 to 8 page narrative essay that analyzes a significant American election contest between 1776 and 1876. Each essay should make sure to situate each campaign narrative in the historical context of the time period. All essays should employ a combination of high quality primary and secondary sources. All essays should also be typed and double-spaced as a Word or PDF document while including a title page with descriptive title and Chicago-style footnotes (no bibliography required). In addition to the essay, students should also submit a custom-made TimelineJS on their chosen election contest. Well-designed timelines can receive up to 5 extra-credit points. Additional information and guidance will be available on the annotated assignment guidelines posted at the course site. Both essay and timeline link should be submitted by email to Prof. Pinsker by 5pm on the due date. Student work will be graded on research effort, depth of analysis and prose quality. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points per day.
Second Election Narrative (1876 – 2000)
By SUNDAY, November 8 [REVISED], students will submit a 6 to 8 page narrative essay that analyzes a significant American election contest between 1876 and 2000. Each essay should make sure to situate each campaign narrative in the historical context of the time period. All essays should employ a combination of high quality primary and secondary sources. All essays should also be typed and double-spaced as a Word or PDF document while including a title page with descriptive title and Chicago-style footnotes (no bibliography required). In addition to the essay, students are REQUIRED to submit a short documentary-style video on their chosen election contest. Well-designed videos can receive up to 5 extra-credit points. Additional information and guidance will be available on the annotated assignment guidelines posted at the course site. Both essay and timeline link should be submitted by email to Prof. Pinsker by 5pm on the due date. Student work will be graded on research effort, depth of analysis and prose quality. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points per day.
By Monday, November 30, students should post an election web project on their own custom-built Weebly site. Each project should be designed as an online teaching exhibit, revised from material submitted earlier in one of the previous narrative papers, but now focusing on conveying an engaging multi-dimensional perspective. Once again, students should employ a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, but now benefiting from the online platform, they should strive to find ways to provide full-text access to primary sources whenever available. Most important, students should also strive to engage classroom audiences with visual and multi-media tools such as timelines and short videos. Students may embed and curate multi-media elements from outside sources, but they must take care to credit and caption those sources properly. All text content at the student-produced websites should be original and cited with Chicago-style footnotes. Students should submit a link to their website by email to Prof. Pinsker. Late projects will be penalized up to 5 points per day.
Grade Distribution
Class Participation 30 percent
First Election Narrative 20 percent
Second Election Narrative 20 percent
Election web project 30 percent
| Day | Date | Discussion Topic | Reading Assignment |
| Tuesday | 8/18 | ZOOM –Methods & Expectations | — |
| Thursday | 8/20 | Email —Themes in American Politics | Avlon // Porch Keyssar (2012) |
| Tuesday | 8/25 | ZOOM —Treating and Bumbo | Sydnor chap. + Pinsker (1997) |
| Thursday | 8/27 | Email —Creating the Electoral Congress | Slonim article + Keyssar (2020) |
| Tuesday | 9/1 | ZOOM — Dueling & the Grammar of Early Politics | Freeman chapter |
| Wednesday | 9/2 | LECTURE: Cahill on Suffrage | 7pm EST, YouTube Live |
| Thursday | 9/3 | Email — Lincoln and Jacksonian America | Gienapp, ch. 1 / First Campaign Statement |
| Tuesday | 9/8 | ZOOM –Whigs & Democrats | Gienapp, ch. 2 + Troy+ 1848 Convention |
| Thursday | 9/10 | Email –Lincoln on Lincoln | Lincoln’s Writings (especially Railsplitter & Honest Abe) |
| Tuesday | 9/15 | ZOOM —Political Realignment of the 1850s | Gienapp, ch. 3 |
| Thursday | 9/17 | Email –Lincoln vs. Douglas (see esp. 4th debate at Charleston, Gienapp, p. 65) | Digital Classroom + CSPAN lecture |
| Tuesday | 9/22 | ZOOM —Election, Secession and War | Gienapp, ch. 4-5 |
| Thursday | 9/24 | Email —Election of 1864 | Gienapp, ch. 6-8 + Blind Memo + Harvey |
| Tuesday | 9/29 | ZOOM —Second Founding & Black Voting Rights
FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE (9pm EST) |
Foner + Schutte |
| Thursday | 10/1 | Email —Douglass and Rivers | Pinsker (2015) + Prince exhibit |
| Friday | 10/2 | First election narratives due | By 5pm |
| Tuesday | 10/6 | NO CLASS (Fall Pause) | |
| Thursday | 10/8 | Email —Woman’s Rights Origins | Baker, pp. 3-76 |
| Tuesday | 10/13 | ZOOM —Suffrage Struggles | Baker, pp. 77-129 |
| Thursday | 10/15 | Email —Toward the Nineteenth Amendment (1920)
SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE [CANCELLED] |
Baker, pp. 130-194 + Poeton |
| Tuesday | 10/20 | ZOOM –Election of 1912 | O’Mara, ch. 1 |
| Thursday | 10/22 | Email —Election of 1912
THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 9pm EST |
O’Mara, ch. 2 + Nelligan |
| Tuesday | 10/27 | ZOOM —Election of 1932 | O’Mara, ch. 3 |
| Thursday | 10/29 | Email —Election of 1932 | O’Mara, ch. 4 + Kaplan |
| Tuesday | 11/3 | ZOOM —Election Day Reports | Election Day posts: 1860, 1884, 1896, 1936, 1944 |
| Thursday | 11/5 | Email —Election Aftermath | Zeitz (2016) + Brands |
| Sunday | 11/8 | Second election narratives due | By 5pm |
| Tuesday | 11/10 | ZOOM —Election of 1968 | O’Mara, ch. 5 |
| Thursday | 11/12 | Email —Election of 1968 | O’Mara, ch. 6 |
| Tuesday | 11/17 | ZOOM —Election of 1992 | O’Mara, ch. 7 |
| Thursday | 11/19 | Email —Election of 1992 | O’Mara, ch. 8, conclusion |
| Tuesday | 11/24 | ZOOM —Lessons & Legacies | |
| Monday | 11/30 | Final projects due | By email by 5pm |