17. Homefronts and Battlefronts: "Hard War" and the Social Impact of the Civil War

The Civil War and Reconstruction (HIST 119)
Professor Blight begins his lecture with a description of the sea change in Civil War scholarship heralded by the Social History revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Along with a focus on the experience of the common solider, women, and African Americans, a central component of this shift in scholarly emphasis was an increased interest in the effects of the war on the Union and Confederate home fronts. After suggesting some of the ways in which individual Americans experienced the war, Professor Blight moves to a discussion of the war's effect on industry and economics, North and South. The lecture concludes with a description of the increased activism of the federal government during the war, an activism that found expression in finance, agriculture, taxation, building railroads, and, most importantly, in emancipation.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: The Social History Revolution
07:39 - Chapter 2. Personal Trauma in the Civil War
21:32 - Chapter 3. Economy and Demography: Changes on the Confederate Home Front
43:14 - Chapter 4. Growing Republican Influences on Industry and Commerce in the North
48:36 - Chapter 5. Conclusion
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Spring 2008.