This seminar begins with an assessment of antebellum politics and society, including the breakdown of national institutions during the 1850s. Abolitionism, the rise of the Republican Party, and westward expansion of slavery will receive careful study. The war itself will be placed within a broad social context, including the impact of conventional and guerrilla warfare on soldiers, civilians, slaves and freed people. Exclusions HI495* taken prior to May 1, 2010. Notes 1.0 credit, one-term historiographical course.
