March 29 - 31, 2001

Conveners:

• Andrea Mehrländer (Center for U. S. Studies, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg)
• Jörg Nagler (Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena)
• Hartmut Keil (University of Leipzig)

This conference will examine the exact nature of the American Civil War, which has been a continuing source of dispute among historians. Secession festered decades before erupting. Southerners would not take the drastic step of seceding until they believed that the North aimed not merely to bar the expansion of slavery but also to corrode the moral and political foundations of southern society. The Kansas-Nebraska furor, the emergence of the purely sectional Republican party, northern opposition to the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry finally persuaded southerners that the North intended to reduce them to subjection and "slavery". Secession seemed a natural recourse. All of these conflicts, spanning a period of 50 years, were deeply embedded in the nation's political heritage, with the North and the South holding vastly different views of what that heritage was.

No field of American history has been more transformed by recent scholarship than the study of the Civil War. Despite this outpouring of written history that has shaped our understanding of Northern and Southern attitudes in this conflict, there seems to be no diminuition of interest in the subject.

Since 1865, more than 50,000 books have been published on this most crucial event in American history. In addition, an average of 800 Civil War books are still being published annually, and Civil War roundtables, military enactments and Hollywood movies are increasingly high in popular favor.

While the immense interest of American scholars in this field needs no explanation, it was only recently that Germany has witnessed the emergence of wide scholarly interest in the era of the American Civil War. Naturally, a number of outstanding studies have focused on the ethnic dimensions of the war, tightly connected with issues of ethnic leadership, race, and politics.

In both countries, however, there are still topics that lie fallow. For instance, more research is needed about the Civil War in current popular culture both in the United States and Germany. As long as the conflict about the Confederate battle flag is still important enough to feature as a decisive issue in the upcoming presidential election, too little is known about the very nature of American heritage. Likewise, many Germans have engaged themselves in organizing roundtables and re-enactment groups throughout the nation, taking pride in their ancestors' participation in the Civil War, whereas their attitude concerning Germany's role in World War II remains questionable.

The aim of this conference is twofold:

1. For the first time German and American Civil War scholars, both established and young, will meet outside the United States to discuss, evaluate, and analyse the findings of recent research in the field.
2. The conference participants will be able to and take stock in what has been published on both sides of the Atlantic within the last decade.

• The Civil War and the Afro-American Experience
• Gender & the Civil War
• Ethnic Dimensions of the Civil War
• The Civil War in Culture & Memory
• Civil War Politics & the Military
• Touched by Fire: The Civil War & Biography

Conference participants are hosted at the LEUCOREA, Collegienstr. 62, 06886 Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. Registration for the conference requires prepayment, is non-refundable and includes accommodations, meals, conference materials, guided city tour. Transportation costs and the reception dinner on March 30th, 2001, are not covered. Registration deadline: January 10th, 2001.

Registration fee (outside Germany): US$ 100.00
Registration fee (inside Germany) : DM 160,00 /student discount: DM 95,00.

Payment by Travellers check in German Marks possible, made payable to ZUSAS Leucorea. For Germans, please remit the fee to: ZUSAS, account number: 1554, Sparkasse Wittenberg, BLZ 805 501 01.