Spring Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-5:00 PM

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Nearly A century and a half later, the American Civil War remains a defining moment in American history. One of the most hotly debated academic issues of the conflict remains the motivation of common soldiers-- North and South, Union and Confederate, white and black-to fight. This historical issue will be used as a vehicle to develop the skills that each undergraduate history major should possess. Students will learn how to research a historical subject, write short (5 page) argumentative papers, give in-class oral presentations, and write a longer (10-15 page) final paper drawing upon original research in primary and secondary sources.

UNC-CHARLOTTE GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: This course is also designed to fulfill part of Goal I of the UNC-Charlotte General Education Requirements (the "O" goal). Upon successful completion of this course, UNC-Charlotte students should be able to:

-Effectively send and receive in English written and oral messages in different situations for a variety of audiences, purposes, and subjects.

-Communicate effectively in a symbolic system of language (other than English) having written, oral, or visual components.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Successful completion of this course provide the fundamental skills required of historians. Students will learn how to identify historical argument and enter into historical argument. They will learn how to conduct research into secondary and primary sources. They will learn how to organize their findings and present them both orally and in writing. To achieve these objectives, they will complete a graduated series of graded and ungraded assignments and required readings elaborated in the Course Outline and the Course Evaluation sections below.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS: In addition to adhering to the provisions of the University honor code, all students in this class are expected to 1) attend class, 2) perform the assigned readings, 3) strive to improve their writing and, 4) strive to improve their critical reasoning skills. Meeting these expectations almost invariably results in a better grade.

CLASS RULES:

• Attendance is mandatory .

• Because attendance will be taken when class begins, all students must be in their seats at that time.

• Eating or drinking anything is not allowed in class.

• Disruptions of a class as large as this one, besides being rude and inconsiderate of other students and the professor, will not be tolerated under any circumstances. If you are unsure of whether some behavior is disruptive, you probably should not be doing it.

COURSE TEXTS:

The following are the prescribed texts for this course:

Barzun , The Modern Researcher (5 th ed.)

Berlin, et. al., Slaves No More: Three Essays on Emancipation and the Civil War

McPherson, For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War

Mitchell, The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home

Moe , The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers

Owen, In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery

Turabian , A Manual for Writers (6 th ed.)

COURSE OUTLINE: READINGS:

Week 1: INTRODUCTIONS

Jan. 14: Course Introduction

Jan. 16: Writing Period: Assignment #1: 2-3 pg. paper : What is History?

Week 2: WHAT IS HISTORY? WHAT IS HISTORICAL ARGUMENT? (PART I)

Jan. 21: What is History? McPherson, Ch 1-6

Jan. 23: Historical Arguments I McPherson, Ch 1-6

Week 3: WHAT IS HISTORICAL ARGUMENT? (PART II)

Jan. 28 : Reading Period McPherson, Ch 7-12

Jan. 30: Historical Arguments II McPherson, Ch 7-12

Week 4: CASE STUDY I: CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS OF THE WASHINGTON ARTILLERY

Feb. 4: The Early War Owen, Ch I-XI

Feb. 6: The Late War Owen, Ch XII-XIX+

Week 5: CASE STUDY II: UNION SOLDIERS OF THE IRON BRIGADE

Feb. 11: The Early War Moe , Ch 1-4+Intro

Feb. 13: The Late War Moe , Ch 5- end

Week 6: LIBRARY WEEK

Feb. 18: Meet with Lois Stickell , UNC-C Reference Librarian

Feb. 20: Meet with Pat Ryckman , UNC-C Archivist

Week 7: LIBRARY WEEK

Feb. 25: Writing Period

Feb. 27: First five page paper due:

Compare and Contrast the Motivations of the Washington Artillery

& the First Minnesota Volunteers

Week 8: CASE STUDY III: BLACK SOLDIERS IN THE UNION ARMY

Mar. 4: The Factor of Race in the Civil War Berlin (all)

Mar. 6: In-class movie: "Glory" Review Berlin

Week 9: SPRING BREAK: NO CLASSES

Mar. 11

Mar. 13

Week 10: ADDING HISTORICAL CONTEXT: HOMEFRONTS & BATTLEFRONTS

Mar. 18: Contextualizing Motivation in the Civil War Mitchell (all)

Mar. 20: Writing Period: Second five page paper due: Annotated Bibliography

Week 11: SURVEYING THE LITERATURE TOGETHER

Mar. 25: Writing Period

Mar. 27: In-Class Review of Annotated Bibliographies

Week 12: WRITING PERIOD: WORK ON DRAFT OF FINAL PAPER.

Apr. 1: Individual consultations with professor Turabian & Barzun

Apr. 3: Individual consultations with professor Turabian & Barzun

Week 13: WRITING PERIOD: WORK ON DRAFT OF FINAL PAPER.

Apr. 8: Individual consultations with professor Turabian & Barzun

Apr. 10: Individual consultations with professor Turabian & Barzun

-Draft Papers (min 8 pages) due

Week 14: ORAL PRESENTATIONS.

Apr. 15: Oral Presentation Session I

Apr. 17: Oral Presentation Session II

COURSE OUTLINE (continued):

Week 15: ORAL PRESENTATIONS.

Apr. 22: Oral Presentation Session III

Apr. 24: Oral Presentation Session IV

Week 16: CONCLUSIONS

Apr. 29: Turn in Final Paper

May 1: Course Evaluation and Student Assessment

STUDENT EVALUATION:

Student evaluation is based upon successful completion of all graded and ungraded requirements in the Course. Students are reminded that successful class participation is not possible without class attendance.

Short Paper I (5 pages): 100 points

Short Paper II (5 pages): 100 points

Oral Presentation 200 points

Oral Participation 100 points

Final Paper (15 pages): 500 points

Total 1,000 points

Grades:

A 90-100%

B 80-90%

C 70-80%

D 60-70%

F Below 60 %