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Module Four |
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As you
can see from the “table of contents” page, there are five modules, each
lasting for three weeks. The dates for
this module are delineated on that previous page. This is
your fourth module and the dominant focus is the war, as it was for those
living during it. Once war came, each
side hardened their positions: breaking away to refocus the country versus
maintaining the Union. The beginning of the war, as you saw at the end of the
last module, was chaotic for both sides. The South seemed to stabilize more
quickly, when Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia
during the Peninsula Campaign. More than a year, and many commanders later,
Lincoln settled on Ulysses S. Grant. With Grant at the helm, the war took a
more brutal turn as his strategy was total war to bring the South to
surrender. |
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Special
assignment: this module is going to have a “mini-module,” a continuation of
the last one. I have made comments on
your posts in that previous mini-module. I would like you to read them and
then develop a working bibliography. This needs to be much more focused and
adheres to the assignment’s guidelines (hint: go to the library and talk to
the reference librarian). You should plan on completing that work by the
end of the second week. In the third week, I would like you to read and
comment on each other’s research topics (there were some good comments and
advice shared by fellow students in the last exercise). For the
rest of the module, you will have the entire three-week period. Again, a caution: do not put your work off
until the last minute (very easy to do, BUT NOT in your best interests).
You will
be assessed on the quality of your writing and the variety of assigned
sources you use. |
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Course
textbook readings for Module Four: From
Gallagher/Waugh, The American War, read chapters four through none. From
Fetter-Vorm/Kelman. Battle Lines, chapters five through thirteen Ambrose
Bierce, “What I Saw of
Shiloh” |
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Videos
for this fourth module: -From The
Biography of America, watch “Slavery”
and “The
Coming of the Civil War” -From The
Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns:** o
“Forever
Free” o
“Simply
Murder” o
“Valley
of the Shadow of Death” -From the
Filson Historical Society, Megan Kate Nelson on “When the Civil War Went
West” -From
the American Battlefield Trust:*** o
Shiloh o
Antietam **Burns’
documentaries date to the 1990s, but they are still quite useful, using
images and voices that give a deeper insight into the war. ***These
have a short video at the top and a narrative below. I have chosen the major
battles but feel free to explore your interests. |
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Below are
websites that have content connected to this module. They should be used as part of your
discussion posts and essays. Use them
to further your own learning. -Sioux Uprising
of 1862 -How
many people “saw” the war: Matthew
Brady and a
mystery -Lincoln’s
“Gettysburg
Address” (read “Final version”) -Lincoln’s
“Second Inaugural Address” |
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This
module’s essays, choose one of the three below: 1)
At the outset, President Lincoln’s
goal was the preservation of the Union, with or without the institution of
slavery. Why did Lincoln decide, in
mid 1862, that the only way to preserve the Union was with slavery’s end? What obstacles, legal, political, military,
and moral, did he have to overcome in order to issue the Emancipation
Proclamation? 2)
Using specific examples, explain
what were the strengths and weaknesses of Grant’s and Sherman’s military
strategy and tactics? How were their
approaches to warfare different from the more traditional practices? 3)
Wars are not won and lost on
military strategy alone, no matter how good or bad it is. Examine different important categories,
including but not limited to revenue, war material mobilization, diplomacy, and
politics, and develop a thesis that explains the development of the war. |
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