The United States Civil War

Dr. Gary Darden, Associate Professor of History and Chair, Department of Social Sciences and History Fairleigh Dickinson University

5 Monday afternoons, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

January 29, February 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2024

This minicourse covers the Civil War in U.S. history with a look at its origins in slavery –– from its common practice in colonial times to that "peculiar institution" that endured the first 87 years of the American Republic. The insurrection of 1860-1865 was the most violent conflict in U.S. history and one that redefined both democracy and citizenship and became an era justly called the "Second American Revolution" for its destruction of slavery in a preserved and redefined Union. 

The five lectures are as follows:

1. "Original Sin: American Slavery from the Age of Compromise to the Age of Crisis: 1776-1859”

2. "Ballots to Bullets: the 1860 Election to the Secessions of 1860-1861"

3. "Presidents & Generals: Strategies for Confederate Victory & Strategies for Union Victory"

4. "Blood & Redemption in 1862: Antietam & Emancipation // Alters of Sacrifice in 1863: Gettysburg, Vicksburg & New York City"

5. "The Long View of Union Victory in 1865: the Civil War as the Second American Revolution"

Dr. Gary Darden is an Associate Professor of History and the Chair of the Department of Social Sciences and History, Becton College of Arts & Sciences, Fairleigh Dickinson University. His specialization is modern American political history. He earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 2005, the same year he began his career at FDU.  He is a native of Texas and lives in New York City. 

Classes will be held at the Florham Park Library

107 Ridgedale Avenue, Florham Park, NJ  07932