HIST 130Introduction to the Civil War Era, 1848 through 1877

3 credits · History · Penn State

Survey of the causes and consequences of America's deadliest conflict, the Civil War, from the end of the U.S.-Mexican War in 1848 through the end of Reconstruction in 1877. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. HIST 130 is a general survey of the American Civil War Era that satisfies the Gen Ed GH requirement. Course content features the causes of the war, the conflict itself, the consequences for the meaning of freedom in the United States, and the continuing relevance of this conflict today. Students will become familiar with American slavery; Northern and Southern social, cultural, political, and economic composition; the military progress of the war; problems on the home front; the struggle for emancipation; and the creation of a new nation based on free labor.