The American Civil War and Reconstruction

Catalog description

This course will cover the nature of American slavery, the causes of the Civil War, how the aims of the war changed over time, and the emergence and destruction of bi-racial democracy during Reconstruction. This is not a military history course, but we will discuss the course of the war and explore why Americans in the mid-nineteenth century came to believe that they could only settle their political disagreements through violence. We will examine how the revolutionary social and political changes that the war made possible were undermined and how the promise and shortcomings of Reconstruction continue to shape the nation today. Students will be graded on class participation in lecture and three written assignments. No prior knowledge required.