HSY2990 - The American Civil War

Leader: Mark Peel

Offered

Not offered in 2007

Synopsis

This unit will relate the history of the American Civil War, with a particular focus on the political, social and ideological origins of the conflict between North and South; contemporary and historical understandings of the causes and outcomes of the war; the international significance of the Civil War as a political, military and social conflict; the experience and perspectives of 'ordinary Americans' before, during and after the war, with particular attention to soldiers and on slaves before and after emancipation; and the representation of the conflict in photography, fiction, film, popular memory and historical scholarship during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Objectives

Students successfully completing this subject will be able to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the history of the American Civil War, of the ways in which the war was understood by its various participants (including direct combatants, Northern and Southern black Americans, civilians, photographers and artists) and of its subsequent interpretation and representation by historians, film-makers and other cultural producers. They will also show skills in independent research and writing, collaborative research and presentation, and in the use of information technologies such as the WWW to locate, access and critically analyse various forms of historical data, documents and sources.

Assessment

Group project (equivalent 1000 words): 30%
Research essay (2500 words): 50%
Examination (1 hour): 20%

Contact hours

3 hours of lectures and tutorials per week

Prerequisites

A first year sequence in History or permission

Prohibitions

HSY3990