By Chris Taylor
Frankfort, KY – Students at a central Kentucky college will debate this spring over whether or not to secede from the union.
It's part of a new class that starts Tuesday at Kentucky State University in Frankfort. The course - Kentucky 1861 - is designed to show students what it was like to live in Kentucky on the eve of the Civil War, The State Journal reports.
It will focus on the months between Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, and the Kentucky legislature's decision to remain neutral in the war.
After studying for a few months, students will participate in a role-playing game, portraying lawmakers, militiamen and journalists and be asked to debate the same issues Kentuckians grappled with 150 years ago. Some of those debates will take place in the Old State Capitol, under the same roof where the original debates occurred.