The Civil War and Reconstruction
This course exposes students to the most critical periods in American history: the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Civil War changed the country by putting an end to the threat of secession and abolishing slavery. It presented issues that are important to the concept of ourselves as a people and a nation, such as the power balance between local and national authorities, citizenship limits, and the values of freedom and equality. The reasons for the conflict, the path to secession, the conduct of the Civil War, the arrival of emancipation, and the struggle after the war to give substance to the promise of freedom for four million emancipated slaves will all be explored in this XSeries. The politics of history – how the environment in which a historian lives impacts his or her vision of the past, and how historical interpretations sustain or question the contemporary social order – is a recurring issue throughout the series.
What you'll learn:
- How historians have described the path to secession, the causes and conduct of the war, the arrival of emancipation, and the battle to give meaning to the promise of freedom for four million emancipated slaves over the course of centuries.
- The importance of slavery in the southern and national economies
- How did the question of slavery's growth come to dominate national politics?
- In the previous two generations, historians' perceptions of the time have shifted dramatically.
- How the Civil War and Reconstruction shifted the focus on topics that are still relevant today
Duration: 1 year 2 months (4 - 6 hours per week)
Fee: $135 (For the full program experience)
Self-paced: Progress at your own speed
Expert instruction: 3 high-quality courses
Enroll here: https://www.edx.org/xseries/civil-war-reconstruction
