Explore the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War, from the 1840s to 1877. Come to understand the multiple meanings of a transforming event in American history. Those meanings may be defined as national, sectional, racial, constitutional, individual, social, intellectual, or moral. Examine four broad themes: the crisis of union and disunion in an expanding republic; slavery, race, and emancipation as national problem, personal experience, and social process; experience of modern, total war for individuals and society; and political and social challenges of Reconstruction. Lecture-based with source materials including film, photographs, and contemporary documents.