Course Detail Information

Course Description: Lincoln described the Civil War as “fundamental and astounding” while attempting to justify its costs by promising a “new birth of freedom.” No other single event has affected American history more, and in more different ways. Yet the issues surrounding the American Civil War’s causes, its fighting, and its aftermath are faced by dozens of nations around the world today. Sectional conflict, racial and ethnic oppression, nationalism, and the meaning of democracy (and for whom) are but some of the questions America faced in the mid-19th century and will be explored not only in the specific context of our Civil War but also with a comparative international perspective in this Learning Community.