Undergraduate Course: The American Civil War: History and Memory (HIST10334)
Course Outline
School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
Summary | This course examines the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War. It also examines the legacy of the Civil War in American memory and culture. |
Course description |
The Civil War was America¿s crucible: a test of national survival that transformed life in the United States. Not only was slavery abolished and the nation reunited under a newly powerful central government but the meanings of American freedom and equality, of manhood and womanhood, of race and citizenship, were also redefined. These transformations are the main subject of the course. We will begin by investigating the background and causes of the Civil War and go on to explore topical aspects of the war itself, such as women¿s experiences, emancipation, and dissent. We will also examine how the consequences of the war remained contentious issues throughout Reconstruction.
The final part of the course considers how the war has been remembered over the past 150 years, highlighting connections between contested memories of the war and politics, culture, and racial struggles.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
The United States, 1846-1877: The Union in Crisis (HIST10037)
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Other requirements | A pass in 40 credits of third level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503767). |
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Michael Perman and Amy Murrell Taylor, eds., Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction, International Edition
Stephen Berry, ed., Weirding the War: Stories from the Civil War¿s Ragged Edges (2011).
Drew Gilpin Faust, ¿A Southern Stewardship: The Intellectual and Proslavery Argument,¿ American Quarterly 31 (1979): 63-80.
Lacy K. Ford, Deliver us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South (New York, 2009)
William Freehling, The Road to Disunion, vol. 1: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854 (New York, 1990).
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
Keywords | Am Civil War |
Contacts
Course organiser | Prof David Silkenat
Tel: (0131 6)50 4614
Email: David.Silkenat@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Richa Okhandiar
Tel: (0131 6)50 2647
Email: richa.okhandiar@ed.ac.uk |
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