Course Description
The process of reunion, especially in the American South, with emphasis upon the experience of African Americans.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Research paper.
Athena Title
RECONSTRUCTION ERA
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
The World the War Made Rehearsals for Reconstruction The Meaning of Freedom Ambiguities of Free Labor The Failure of Presidential Reconstruction The Making of Radical Reconstruction Blueprints for a Republican South Reconstruction: Political and Economic The Challenge of Enforcement The Reconstruction of the North The Politics of Depression Redemption and After
Syllabus