HIS-309 The U.S. Civil War Era
By virtually any measure, the Civil War was the most important U.S. event of the nineteenth century. Hundreds of thousands of people died. Slavery was abolished. The broader contours of law and society were dramatically transformed. What did it all mean? Was it the result of freedom struggles or political ambition? Did the war shatter national unity, or did it create the modern United States? How do the war and its memory shape our contemporary moment? This seminar addresses these questions , beginning with the central role of slavery in US political, economic, and social life and culminating in the promises and shortcoming of America’s “second founding.”