Introduction to the American Civil War 4219-SA032
This course examines various events leading up to the Civil War and the intellectual and political causes defining both fighting sides. It also looks at how the war was fought and how this shaped the political attitudes of future generations towards this conflict; how it concluded and what policies followed it; how those policies shaped not only the future of American politics but also how it reshaped American attitudes about race, gender and economics. The Civil War is, except the American Revolution, the most important event in the history of the United States. The social, political and ideological conflicts that led to this war were dominating the American political scene for at least two decades before 1861. Events of the next five years were the most severe test for the model of democratic republic accepted by the Founding Fathers in late 18th century.
The very ability of the still young nation to survive that test was being questioned by many observers both home and abroad. The memories of the combatants of and witnesses to that greatest American war are still alive in politics, literature and film. In some respects the results of the war are present in American thinking of nation’s history and politics nowadays. This course's aim is to make the students better understand the causes, course, and effects of the Civil War, both immediate and long-term ones. This is going to be achieved by analyzing the way of thinking and acting by the Americans who fought in that war or simply lived through it. The following sets of problems will be discussed - Slavery seen against the background of the U.S. Constitution, as it was up to the war, and the state laws; the role of that "peculiar institution" in American national and foreign policies before 1861; the rise of both abolitionism and Southern patriotism and their role in the growing North-South tension as well as the attempts of moderate political leaders on both sides to find a compromise that, being acceptable to both regions, would save the Union.
- The circumstances of the acts of secession by the states of the South in 1860-1861 and the process of forming the new nation - Confederate States of America, including the similarities and differences between the political systems of the U.S.A. and C.S.A. - The course of war itself focusing on the organization of armed forces of both sides and their political and military strategy; the domestic and foreign policies of both U.S.A. and C.S.A.; position taken by the European powers and their attitudes to the American Civil War as well as their influence on it. - The most important results of the war - from the Abolition to the problem of responsibility for war crimes and acts of "high treason".
- The discussion will be based on the source material including memoirs and diaries, press articles, government, Congressional, diplomatic and military documents.
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
SPECIFIC COMPETENCES AND SKILLS TRAINED:
1. KNOWLEDGE
Upon completing this course student:
• Has in-depth knowledge of place and role of the American Civil War
for history of the United States
• Knows the history of American Debates on State Rights and their
interpretations up to actual Secession of the South and Civil War
• Understands the phenomenon of slavery in context of American
political debates in the mid-19th Century
2. SKILLS
Upon completing this course student:
• Is able to explain the character of historical events being discussed
basing on the sources used
• Formulates his or her own judgments concerning the most
controversial and dramatic conflict in US history - the Civil War
• Compares and justifies statements regarding character of the
Civil War
3. COMPETENCES
Upon completing this course student:
• Is aware of the role of the Civil War and disputes about it for a citizen
of contemporary United States
• Is aware of importance and role of the Civil War in understanding
of phenomena of contemporary political life in the USA
• Is able to cooperate in a group and participate in academic
discussion
Assessment criteria
Active participation in the classes, and presence at most of them (60%); presentation or paper on one of the subjects discussed, chosen by student and approved by teacher (20%); a 5-page end of semester essay on a subject accepted by teacher (20 %) and a short interview with teacher before the deadline for graduation.
Bibliography
Literature
Primary sources:
- "The Annals of America" vol. 9, Chicago 1976 (further - "Annals/9")
- Mary Chesnut "Mary Chesnut's Civil War" ed. by Vann C. Woodward, New Haven-London 1981 (further - Chesnut)
- "Documents of American History" vol.1, ed. by Henry S. Commager, 9th ed., Englewood Cliffs, N. Jersey
1973 (further - "Documents/1")
- "Encyclopaedia of the American Civil War: a political, social and military history" vol.5, ed. by David S. Heidler and Jeanne Heidler, Santa Barbara, California 2000(further - "Enc./5")
- Ulysses Simpson Grant "Personal Memoirs of..." vol. 2, New York 1952 (further - Grant/2)
Secondary sources:
- Selby Foote "Civil War" vol.1-3, New York 1958
- Peter J. Parish "The American Civil War" New York 1975
- Emory M. Thomas "The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865" New York et al. 1979
topics:
1 class: Introduction – primary and secondary sources and how to use them.
2 class: The U.S. Senate Election of 1858.
3 class:
Presidential Election of 1860 – and Then What?
4 class:
The Secessions – Actual and Possible Ones, 1860-1861.
5 class:
Confederate States of America and United States of America, the Two American Nations, 1861
6 class:
The First Shots.
7 class:
The Different Faces of War.
8 class:
The War and “The Peculiar Institution”.
9 class:
Problems of the Naval Warfare.
10 class:
The Monroe Doctrine Still in Force - United States and the European Attempts to Intervene in the Western Hemisphere,
11 - 12 classes:
The Last Campaigns – Military and Political Ones
13 class:
Settling the Scores.
14 – 15 classes
Reflections Years After – Northern and Southern Ones.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: