Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

The American Civil War brought the slave society of the South to an end and raised questions that would take half a century, and more, to answer: how could those who controlled the land continue to produce cotton and other export staples in a labour regime that was based on race but without the compulsions of slavery? How could former slaves find a place in new social and political systems? What effects would the integration of the region into national economic structures have on the lives of its inhabitants? This course examines these questions, studying the rise and fall of African American political power during Reconstruction, the changes in agriculture and the rise of industrialisation, racial violence and the origins of the segregation and disfranchisement of African Americans, and the fate of Progressive Era reform in the South. We will use a wide range of primary source material, including published works, manuscript collections, newspapers, and government records, most available in digital form.

This course is intended:

•To familiarise students with the historiographical literature relating to the American South between the Civil War and World War I
•To introduce students to historical research and to guide them in the analysis of primary documents and texts.
•Thereby to enable students to develop their own interpretation of the period.
•To provide an opportunity of investigating in some depth selected problems, including the appraisal
of selected source material and the critical examination of current historiography.
•To provide an opportunity to acquire a sound general knowledge of the subject, reading widely and
critically in the primary and secondary literature associated with it and to develop the capacity for independent study.

Outline Of Syllabus

The following is a guide only. Actual subjects may differ from those listed.

Civil War and the Collapse of Slavery
Emancipation
Reconstruction
The Failure of Land Reform
The Death of Reconstruction
King Cotton
The New South
Lynching and Violence
Agrarian Protest

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

- In-depth knowledge of the period 1865-1914 in the history of the American South.
- Knowledge of different aspects of this period (political, social, economic, etc.) and an understanding of the interrelationship between them.
- Detailed knowledge of, and ability to engage with, the key historiographical debates concerning this period.
- General knowledge of the range of primary sources available for the study of this period and detailed experience analyzing some of those sources.

Intended Skill Outcomes

• Students are expected to improve their ability to read quickly and with an eye for the distinction
between the particular and the general (in taking notes on the material they read to prepare
themselves for seminars and the examination).
• To argue clearly and succinctly both on paper (in their essay and examination) and orally (in their
contributions to seminars)
• To manage their time (in order to prepare for the seminars and the examination.)
• Students will thus develop their capacity for independent study and critical judgement and the ability to respond promptly, cogently and clearly to new and unexpected question arising from this study.
• They will also develop associated skills in research, critical reading and reasoning, sustained
discussion and appropriate presentation of the results.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Seminars encourage independent study and promote improvements in oral communication, problem solving skills and adaptability. The final seminar will be run partly as a workshop to discuss the essay and work on it in a group setting, promoting collaborative work and group communication.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The gobbet formative assessment allows students to familiarise themselves with this format, to practice close analysis of a primary source, and to receive formative feedback from both the instructor and their peers.

The 24-hour take-home exam assesses through both the gobbet questions and the essay question students' grasp of the primary source material for the module and their ability to analyse it. The essay question also assesses their grasp of the larger themes of the module and the connections between topics.

Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining student progress.

Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes, develops key skills in research, reading and writing.

General Notes

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