Instructor Access (optional grading support) for Unlimited Access families is available for this course!
In this deep-dive American history course, learn all about the American Civil War and get excited about history. Students will go beyond the causes & consequences and also study the military events, politics, and personalities of the time.
How to get the most out of The Conflict That Made a Nation: The American Civil War with Christopher Martin, PhD:
- Download the pre-course materials (e.g., syllabus) found at the end of the course introduction, but before the weekly materials.
- Review the week's PowerPoint slides before watching the recorded class meeting.
- Have a notebook ready and available for class notes during each recorded class meeting.
- Watch the recorded class meeting, take notes.
- Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.
- Repeat the above for each week.
- Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.
Note: This course includes a writing component.
Total classes: 14
Duration: 55 minutes per class
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grade (NOTE: adjustments can be made to assignments in order to accommodate middle school students)
Suggested credit: One full semester History or American History
Instructor: Christopher Martin, PhD
Instructor Email: christopher.martin@cgu.edu
Course Description: The American Civil War, in many ways, finished the work of the American Revolution, settling the future course of the nation for years to come. The struggle of this conflict is one of the most American and epic stories in all of recorded history. This class briefly examines the causes and consequences of the Civil War, but focuses, primarily, on the politics, personalities, and military events that forged America into a unified country.
Course Outline:
Week 1: Introduction and overview of syllabus and assignments
Background: Weeks 2-3
Week 2: Slavery, Anti-Federalism, and the Birth of the Nation
Week 3: The Crisis of the 1850s
The Glory of the Confederacy: Weeks 4-7
Week 4: The Spirit of ‘61
Week 5: The War at Sea
Week 6: Antietam, and the cost of War
Week 7: Devastation near Fredericksburg
Crushing the Rebellion: Weeks 8-11
Week 8: Gettysburg and Vicksburg
Week 9: The politics and society of war
Week 10: Overland, and to the Sea
Week 11: Medicine and Trenches
Week 12: The final campaigns
The Legacy of the Civil War: Weeks 13-14
Week 13: Reconstruction
Week 14: The Lost Cause
Course materials: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James McPherson, ISBN-10 : 019516895X, ISBN-13: 978-0195168952, (https://amzn.to/3b4WpeK or bookfinder.com).
NOTE: Middle school students are exempt from the course materials and required readings.
Homework: Writing is an integral part of demonstrating both the assimilation of knowledge, and the articulation thereof. Therefore, students will be guided through the process of writing a short (3- to 5-page, double-spaced) research paper on a subject related to the Civil War.
NOTE: Middle school students taking this course must instead write a one- to two-page book report.
One to two short (5-10 minutes), ungraded review quizzes based on classroom lectures and discussions.
- Teacher: Christopher Martin