HIS-30161 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2022/23

In this module, you will explore the causes, course and consequences of the American Civil War. You will study themes and issues related to slavery and emancipation; class conflict; nationalism; crises of gender; and failures in political and military leadership. Through an investigation of archival materials and wider primary sources from the Union and Confederacy, you will consider the connections between the front lines and the home front. From the Richmond bread riot to Lincoln¿s Emancipation Proclamation, you will put social and cultural history into dialogue with political and intellectual history. You will also examine the memory of the Confederacy and the Civil War in not only the nineteenth century, but in contemporary American society.
At its core, this module seeks to answer a fundamental and hotly debated question in nineteenth-century American history: To what extent did the United States remain divided after the Civil War?

- To explore the ways in which America became reliant upon control and political power
- To explore how individuals expressed agency and resistance within institutions of power during the period
- To explore the role violence played in the formation of an American national identity

Intended Learning Outcomes

discuss and analyse the importance of violence in the Civil War period: 1,2
analyse the ways in which the politics of race, gender and sex were manipulated to justify the use of violence in mid-nineteenth-century America: 1,2
assess the relative merits of conflicting interpretations of significant events, recognising the complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and belief systems: 1,2
use source materials constructively both in evaluating primary and secondary accounts and in developing original interpretations fostering competence in the handling and analysis of evidence: 1,2
work independently and collaboratively to synthesize and communicate ideas and arguments: 1,2

Study hours

12 x 2-hour seminars
12 x 1-hour workshops
44 hours seminar preparation;
20 hours presentation preparation;
50 hours essay research and writing

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment