Tempered by War: How Union Veterans Carried on the "Unfinished Work"

Conceived and taught by a psychiatrist who has treated and worked with combat veterans, this course will use new information, innovative methods, and an interdisciplinary approach to challenge conventional, often erroneous views of Union servicemen, Reconstruction, North-South reconciliation, and the impact of surviving war. How white Northern veterans supported African Americans in their struggle for equality during the nineteenth century's remaining decades, and with their black comrades created the modern model of civic responsibility based on military service, will all be fully presented and discussed. The lives and words of these "thinking bayonets" and associated novel insights will foster understanding of how veterans of any era cope with physical and emotional challenges, successfully reintegrate into civilian society, and use their enduring warrior identity to continue the work in peace that began while under fire. Required Text: Stephen A. Goldman, One More War to Fight: Union Veterans' Battle for Equality through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Lost Cause (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023)