Thomas DiLorenzo discusses this course in a Mises Daily article here.

In Omnipotent Government (p. 268) Ludwig von Mises wrote that “the adversaries of the trend toward more government control describe their opposition as a . . . contest of states’ rights versus the central power.” To Mises, centralized governmental power was the greatest threat to liberty.  And as Edmund Wilson once noted, no one is more responsible for the birth of the centralized, bureaucratic state that Americans slave under than Abraham Lincoln, the “Great Centralizer.” This course will apply Austrian economics and Austrian social theory to understand the economic and political legacies of the real Lincoln, the man who waged total war on his own citizens, killing some 350,000 of them; who shredded the Constitution and essentially declared himself dictator; who suspended Habeas Corpus and imprisoned political opponents by the thousands; who  shut down opposition newspapers by the hundreds; who intimidated federal judges and deported an opposition member of Congress; who ignored how most of the rest of the world ended slavery peacefully; who destroyed the voluntary union of the founding fathers that was based on states’ rights and federalism; and whose regime introduced America to income taxation, military conscription, decades of protectionism, corrupt corporate welfare, the internal revenue bureaucracy, and transformed the country from a republic to an empire.

The course features 6 weekly lectures, forums, online readings and media, and much more. Students have an option to take the course without receiving a grade. All materials are provided online and for free. Dr. DiLorenzo’s books about Lincoln (see links above) would be helpful supplements for this course, but are not required.

Click here to see how to purchase this course as a gift!

Course Syllabus

Here is an image capture of the “Syllabus Page” for Thomas DiLorenzo’s online course, The Great Centralizer: Lincoln and the Growth of Statism. This page will also include an expanding archive of lecture recordings as the class progresses.

Click to Enlarge

Live Sessions:

The lectures are broadcast live over the internet, and students will receive a special access code to join the sessions.  Students will be able to ask the professor questions via email or chat, and the professor will respond via video.  The weekly live video-broadcast lectures will be Tuesday evenings, at 7:30 pm EST: about 45 minutes of lecture, and 45 minutes of question-and-answer. Live attendance is not required; recordings of all live sessions will be made available to students.

Here is a sample lecture from Dr. DiLorenzo’s previous Mises Academy course on Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom.

About the Professor

This is the third online Mises Academy course taught by Thomas J. DiLorenzo: author of The Real Lincoln, Lincoln Unmasked, and Hamilton’s Curse. Dr. DiLorenzo is today’s foremost critic of “Lincoln hagiography”.

DiLorenzo is a professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland and a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, Barron’s, and many other publications.  He is widely published in the academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, International Review of Law and Economics, Public Choice, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, and many others. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Virginia Tech.

DiLorenzo has authored at least ten books, including The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, Hamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Arch Enemy Betrayed the American Revolution–and What It Means for Americans Today, How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, From the Pilgrims to the Present, and Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed To Know about Dishonest Abe.

Click here to read an interview with Professor DiLorenzo.

What is it like to take an online class from the Mises Academy?

Just ask student Lee Sutterfield:

This is the most useful and well presented educational experience I’ve had in my 59 years. I will be enrolled in at least one or two courses for the rest of my life if possible. Keep the courses coming! I plan to complete the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in Austrian Economics if the Academy is able to offer enough material. I hope accreditation is planned but if not, so be it. The material is fundamental and answers many questions I’ve wrestled with for years. Thanks to all of you who have worked so hard over the years to make this happen!!!”

Final Grade, Transcript, and Certificate of Completion:

The final grade will depend on participation (in both lecture and discussion sessions), short essays, quizzes, and the final exam. Students will have access to a digital transcript for the course. We will add any future grades for future Mises Academy courses taken to this transcript.

Refund Policy

If you drop the course during its first week (7 calendar days), you will receive a full refund, minus a $25 processing fee.
If you drop the course during its second week, you will receive a half refund.
No refunds will be granted following the second week.

Computer Requirements

Video Lecture Sessions

Operating System
Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
Windows XP SP2 or higher
Linux

Connection
Broadband 2Mb+

Browser
Safari 2, Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3.0 or higher

Course Readings, Discussions and Assignments

Operating System
Windows 98 or higher
Mac OS 10.1 or higher
Linux

Connection
56k V.90 modem or higher

Browser
Firefox 3.0 or higher is recommended for both Mac and PC.
Free download: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox
Opera and Safari will not show built-in html editor in Moodle.
Internet Explorer can potentially cause errors.