History of the american civil war

SYLLABUS

 It is history that teaches us to hope—Robert E. Lee

 HST 233

Section 9497

 Dr. Carolyn F. Hoffman

Office: M2023

Phone Number: 301-322-0531

E-Mail: choffman@pgcc.edu

  HST 233 is a one-semester survey of the American Civil War. The course examines the political, diplomatic, economic, and social events leading up to and surrounding the war with equal emphasis, although attention will be given to the military aspects of the war as well.

 By the end of this course you should be able to:

1) Analyze the causes and outcomes of the Civil War.

2) Compare and contrast the development of the North and the South in the 19^th century.

3) Explain the development of slavery and identify those elements of slave life that enabled slaves to create a culture designed to withstand the cruelties of slavery.

4) Analyze and explain the significance of the military aspects of the war in terms of the larger social, economic, and political issues of the country during the war years.

 Michael Fellman, Lesley J. Gordon, and Daniel E. Sutherland, This Terrible War: The Civil War and its Aftermath ISBN: 0-321-05285-4

John Blassingame, The Slave Community ISBN: 0-19-502563-6

Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels ISBN: 0-345-34810-9 

  There will be 2 exams (a mid-term and a final), 10 discussion boards, 2 book reviews, and a web site analysis during the course of the semester. The exams, discussions, book reviews, and web site analysis assignment will be weighted as follows: 

Mid-term	20%
Final	25%
Discussions	15%
Book Review #1	15%
Book Review #2	15%
Web Site Analysis	10%

The exams will be a combination of 5 of 10 identifications, 1 of 3 short essays, and 1 of 3 long essays. Study guides will be provided before each exam.

Exams will be administered in the Testing Center in Bladen Hall Room 100. The exams will be available for one week.

Since the exams are available for one week, there will be no make-ups given unless under extreme circumstances such as a death in the family or out-of-town travel!!! Be sure to contact me immediately if there is a problem.  

Discussions: 

The discussions will be based on the readings from This Terrible War, Summaries, Main Themes, and additional readings as assigned. Each week I will post a question based on the readings for that week. You will be required to respond to the question and respond to at least one posting from the other students in the class. You will have ten days to respond. You need to contribute to at least 10 of the 15 posted questions for full credit. There is no extra credit for contributing to more than 10 of the discussions, but if you want to, feel free.

Please see ASSIGNMENTS (in your online class) for Rules for Writing Book Reviews and additional information on these assignments. Book reviews will be written for John Blassingame's Slave Community and Michael Shaara's Killer Angels.