Short courses

Summary

During the four years of the American Civil War (1861-65) the United States endured its greatest national trauma. The war transformed what had been a loose collection of fiercely independent states into a nation, remaking its political, cultural, and social institutions but also seeding divisions that persist to the present day.  Arising out of a political crisis over the expansion of slavery, the struggle claimed more than 600,000 lives, freed nearly 4,000,000 enslaved African Americans, and settled definitively the question of whether states had the right to withdraw from the Union.  How did such a colossal groundbreaking conflict begin? What differing models of nationhood emerged and clashed to spark this brutal internecinal war? Was the civil war really fought to abolish slavery or were other factors at play? How did the North win and the confederacy lose? 

Join this 10-week course for a comprehensive account of the causes, course and consequences of the American Civil war from 1845 to 1865; including military campaigns, slavery and emancipation as well as societal and personal experiences of total war and its ending. A history all too present in today’s US politics. 

Over a series of talks, our expert tutor will explain: 

• The key figures and events leading up to, shaping and ending the American Civil War from 1845 until 1865 

• the key political, social and military developments that shaped these events 

• the key archives, sources and first-hand accounts available 

• the main historical debates concerning these times 

You will also have the chance to discuss and reflect on what you learn with other students and the tutor in seminars 

Choose this course if you want to learn: 

• more about the causes, events and consequences of the American Civil War 

• more about its legacy and why it looms so large in the current US political landscape 

• more about America’s political, social and economic development during this time