The Civil War Era, 1828-1877 ((3))

Catalog description

This course examines the history of the United States between 1828 and 1877. The Civil War was the pivotal event of the nineteenth century and perhaps all of American history. The war led to the deaths of some 620,000 soldiers and at least 50,000 civilians, the emancipation of 4 million slaves and the abolition of slavery in the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, and to enormous social, economic, and political changes in the North as well as in the South, including a new meaning of freedom and citizenship in the post-war era. We will study the roots and origins of this conflict, the war itself, and the Reconstruction era that followed. The course is roughly divided into three portions. In the first portion we will examine the coming of the war. The second portion will deal with the course of the war, and the third portion of the course will deal with Reconstruction. We will pay particular attention to the centrality of slavery during this era and the fierce conflicts in which Americans engaged during Reconstruction. (Americas/War and Freedom)