How did the United States emerge as a revolutionary republic built on the principle of human equality at the same time that it produced the wealthiest and mightiest slave society on earth? This course approaches that question in an interpretive history emphasizing the contradictory expansion of racial slavery and political democracy. Topics include the place of slavery in the Federal Constitution and the founding the nation, the spread of the cotton kingdom, Jacksonian democracy and the growth of political parties, the rise of antislavery and proslavery politics, and the growing social and political divisions between North and South.
Between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the United States came to face the greatest crisis in its history until now, the clash between slavery and democracy. Founded on the principle that “all men are created equal,” with a Constitution devoted to “the general welfare,” the new nation also saw a rebirth of plantation slavery that made it the United States the largest and wealthiest slaveholding nation on earth. That clash would help settle the nation’s destiny for a century and a half to come. Yet its effects still resound loudly to shape the sum and substance of American life today.
History 373 closely examines this most critical period in U.S. history, chiefly through the study of primary documents. Topics include slavery and the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the market revolution that transformed the country after 1815, and the rise of antislavery and proslavery politics. Reading averages approximately 100 pages per week, much of it in the documents. A course with inevitable current relevance, it also aims to teach the skills of historical understanding and interpretation through sharply defined brief writing assignments.
History 373 routinely receives excellent reviews from students. One student from Fall, 2025, wrote that, the course, taught by “a legend in the field” and “a great professor,” will “make you a better thinker, writer, historian, and human.” Another wrote that, “[e]ven if you don't like history I can guarantee that Professor Wilentz will be able to change your mind.”
Most agree that History 373 is a challenging course which, given the topics covered, it cannot fail to be. But precisely because of those topics, it’s a challenge well worth taking.