| Gary Kornblith |
History
263
|
| Rice 306; x8526 |
Fall
2001
|
| E-mail: Gary.Kornblith@oberlin.edu |
Blackboard
CourseInfo: Amer Civil War/Reconstruction
|
The
American Civil War and Reconstruction
|
|
The
American Civil War and Reconstruction
|
For a regularly updated version of this syllabus, go to http://www.oberlin.edu/history/GJK/H263F2001/.
Less than a century after fighting for independence from Great Britain and establishing a federal republic, Americans turned their firearms on each other in the bloodiest war in the nation's history. At the end of hostilities, over six hundred thousand soldiers lay dead while approximately four million former slaves enjoyed legal freedom for the first time. Thereafter Americans struggled to reorganize their society and redefine their polity in response to the changes wrought by the Civil War's violence and to the conflicts that endured in peace.
This course focuses on three interrelated subjects: the causes of the Civil War; the dynamics of the war and emancipation; and the outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Beyond coverage of this subject matter, the course is designed to promote three major "student learning objectives":
- A grasp of important issues, trends, and controversies in recent scholarship on the Civil War and Reconstruction.
- An understanding of how historians develop interpretations based on research in primary sources and the application of analytic models.
- A capacity to make independent judgments after careful consideration of available evidence, alternative scholarly interpretations, and an honest reexamination of one's preconceptions and biases.
Throughout the semester, students are expected to draw their own conclusions about the meaning and significance of events that continue to provoke popular passions and intellectual argument more than a century after they occurred.
Format: The class meets regularly on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m. and on Fridays from 2:30 to 4:15 p.m. In general, Mondays and Wednesdays will be devoted to lectures or group discussions of the assigned readings; Fridays will usually involve watching and discussing videos on the Civil War era.
Evaluation:
Students will be graded on the basis of class participation, one short position
paper (2-3 pp.), two research papers (one 4-5 pp., the other 7-8 pp.), and
a final essay (7-8 pp.). The standard formula for determining final grades
will be 10% for the position paper, 15% for the shorter research paper,
25% for the longer research paper, 25% for the final essay, and 25% for
class participation. The instructor reserves the right to exercise some
discretion in assigning final grades.
Revised evaluation formula: 10% for position
paper, 15% for shorter research paper, 30% for longer research paper, 15%
for final assignment, 30% for class participation.
Purchases: The following books are available for purchase at the Oberlin Bookstore.
