10 Big Questions of the American Civil War - Caroline Janney

Category: History
Language: English
Keywords: The Great Courses

Written by Caroline Janney
Read by Caroline Janney
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 32 Kbps

In 10 Big Questions of the American Civil War, join noted author and Civil War historian, Dr. Caroline E. Janney, a professor at The University of Virginia, for a pointed examination of some of the most intriguing, provocative, and enduring questions about the Civil War era. The aim of these 10 eye-opening lectures is to separate myth from memory. Students will learn:

• Why the Southern states actually seceded.
• The reasons that soldiers on both sides of the conflict chose to fight.
• How conscription of soldiers promoted the idea that the Civil War was a “rich man’s war.”
• Why emancipation wasn’t defined by the Emancipation Proclamation but by a process that unfolded over years.
• What social, political, and economic implications arose as the Civil War generation chose how to remember their experiences;
• What various relief efforts, performed by women, existed on both sides of the war.
• Whether the Battle of Gettysburg really turned the tide in favor of the Union.

Dr. Janney sorts through topics that still confound both scholars and students of the Civil War. What’s more, the author reveals the deep, intense, and sometimes violent nature of Civil War memory that still permeates throughout the United States of America.