2021-2022 Academic Catalog

Apr 24, 2024

2021-2022 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HIST 214 - The American Civil War

This combination lecture/large-group discussion course examines the origins, character, and meaning of the single greatest crisis in the national history of the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865. The lectures, discussions, and readings will focus on both the long and short-term background to the outbreak of the war and ultimately on the combat and civilian experiences of Americans during four of the deadliest, most trying years in their history. The course will conclude with a brief consideration of the legacy of the Civil War for the nation, especially for the South and African-Americans, as well as for the larger Atlantic world during the ensuing decades and even centuries. Our defining premise is that no one can engage the larger themes of American history without confronting the war, the simmering and sometimes explosive legacy of which frames a great deal of front-page news in our own time, from Charlottesville, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. In so many ways the war remains at the core of American culture and politics. If we choose to ponder the big questions-what kind of nation is the United States anyway? who ARE Americans as a people?–all roads lead back to the collective mass violence of the 1860s.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year