This week long summer institute for 5th and 8th grade teachers will concentrate on the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction, with a particular emphasis on East Tennessee during this time period.

We will start by exploring the many different ways in which slavery directly, and indirectly, caused the Civil War. This will include both analysis of competing ideologies throughout the nation that led to the conflict the nation and a study of how East Tennessee was in many ways a microcosm of the country, containing elements espousing pro-slavery, free labor, and slave power conspiracy ideas. We also take advantage of the local area when studying the conflict itself, learning about the guerrilla warfare that engulfed this region to the major battle that occurred near Chattanooga.

In the process, we will discuss how the Civil War affected a wide variety of groups, including women, civilians, soldiers, and African Americans. Tennessee, once again a microcosm of the country as a whole, will remain the focus when we turn our attention to Reconstruction. We will examine the difficult task of reuniting a divided state and changing a slave society into a free society.

Finally, we will use the memory Nathaniel Bedford Forest as a lens to study the memory and meaning of the Civil War and Reconstruction in both Tennessee and the entire United States. Throughout this institute we will discuss questions such as why did the Civil War occur, who freed the slaves, why did soldiers fight, why did the North win, how did the war impact the home fronts, was Reconstruction revolutionary, and what is the meaning of the Civil War in modern America.