The Capitol Dome--regular editions

Summer 2015

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burdens they suffered—even after service pensions began to be awarded in the 1890s. Next, Jennifer Weber (University of Kansas) shared her research on a subject widely neglected by other his- torians despite its vast implications for modern bureau- cratic administration. "Conscription and the Rise of Big Brother" described the increasingly invasive methods of monitoring the availability of manpower to meet army quotas in the latter years of the Civil War, and how would-be soldiers and "drafter-dodgers" responded to the first federal draft in American history. The morning session closed with Jenny Bourne (Carleton College) answering the question, "When Johnny came marching home, what did he find?" Bourne's demystification of economic history, which has become such a welcome feature of this symposia series, employed graphs, tables, and charts of important indica- tors to illustrate the sometimes surprising ways that the Civil War served as a watershed in the American econ- omy. Bourne had the added challenge of a race against time and aviation, since part of her scheduled talk coin- cided with a flyover of vintage planes commemorating VE Day and honoring those who fought during WWII or produced aircraft and other materiel on the home front. She concluded in time for conference attendees and Hill staffers to watch the show from the balcony outside the conference room.After a lunch break, Scott Manning Stevens (Syracuse University) began the afternoon ses- sion with "Ely Parker's Road to Appomattox." Parker, a member of New York State's once-powerful Indian confederacy known as the Six Nations, became an im- portant broker in the political and cultural relations be- tween Native Americans and the federal government throughout much of the mid-1800s. Stevens used Parker's accidental high profile at Lee's surrender as the touch- stone for a solemn medita- tion on the intersection of Native American history and the country's main- stream historical narrative. Symposium Director Paul Finkelman (Senior Fellow, University of Penn- sylvania and Scholar-in-Res- idence, National Constitu- tion Center) then delivered a fast-paced and wide-ranging interpretation of how "A Revolution against the Constitution turns into a Revolu- tion in Constitutional Law." Whether explaining how the Civil War decisively laid to rest the specter of secession- ism and slavery, or suggesting how un-representative the House of Representatives has been allowed to become, Finkelman's presentation was a riveting demonstration (Spring Symposium Focuses on Aftermath of Civil War, Con'd) Lorien Foote Jennifer Weber asking a question of a fellow speaker. Some of the aircraft from the VE Day commemoration Scott Manning Stevens Audience members always have questions for the speakers. 2

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