Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Required Paper

Choose one of the following essay questions and answer it in a 4-5 page paper. The paper is due on Wednesday, January 4th.

1. Assess the relative responsibility for the coming of the Civil War of each of the following groups:
Abolitionists
Free Soilers
Pro-Slavery leaders

2. Assess the relative responsibility for the coming of the Civil War of THREE of the following people:
Steven A. Douglas
John Brown
Abraham Lincoln
Roger B. Taney

3. "The Civil War was a conflict over the economic direction of the nation. It's coming had nothing to do with the morality of slavery." Assess the validity of the statement above.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Optional Paper

For thoe of you who choose to do a paper before the Christmas break, choose one of the three essay questions below. Answer the question in a 4-5 page essay.

1. "Although historically represented as distinct parties, the Federalists and the Whigs in fact shared a common political ideology, represented many of the same interest groups, and proposed similar programs and policies." Assess the validity of the statement.

2. Jacksonian democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. To what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians' view of themselves?

3. "Although Americans perceived Manifest Destiny as a benevolent movement, it was in fact an aggressive imperialism pursued at the expense of others." Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to American expansionism from 1800-1850.

**Note: To "assess the validity" means to explain in what ways and to what extent the statement is true or false.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Causes of the Civil War

For Monday, 12/19: The Limits of "Compromise" in the 1850s. Read ages 390-308.
1. How did the territory gained in the US-Mexico War help lead to the Civil War?
2. Why did Taylor invite California to join the union as a free state? Why did this create a crisis?
3. Why couldn’t Henry Clay broker a compromise this time? Who was able to get the compromise passed? Why was he able to pass it?
4. Was it really a compromise? Why?
5. What was the Fugitive Slave Act and why did it cause problems in both the North and the South?
6. What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why did Douglas call for it? Why was it controversial?
7. What was the Free Soil Party? What was their ideology?
8. Why did the Republican Party organize and become so popular so quickly? Who made up the party?
Know the significance of the following: Wilmot Proviso, Zachary Taylor, free soil, popular sovereignty, Omnibus Bill, Millard Fillmore, William Seward, Stephen Douglas, Fugitive Slave Law, personal liberty laws, Franklin Pierce, Gadsden Purchase, Ostend Manifesto, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Republican Party.

For Tuesday, 12/20: The Crisis Escalatesin Kansas and the Court. Read 409-418.
1. What affect did Uncle Tom’s Cabin have on the nation?
2. What was “bleeding Kansas?” Why did it happen? What effects did it have on the rest of the country?
3. Was the Republican Party responsible for the widening the gap between North and South? Why?
4. Why did the Dred Scott Case scare northerners so much?
Know the significance of the following: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, “Bleeding Kansas”, Lawrence, KS, Pottawatamie Creek, John Brown, “Beecher’s bibles”, John C. Fremont, James Buchanan. Dred Scott v Sandford, Roger B. Taney, Lecompton Constitution

For Wednesday, 12/21: The Secession Crisis. Read 419-432
1. What was the long-term importance of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates? In what ways did Douglas both win and lose because of the debates?
2. What affect did John Brown have on the South? What did northerners think of him?
3. Why did Lincoln’s election cause southern states to secede?
4. How did Lincoln respond to southern states’ secession?
Know the significance of the following: Lincoln-Douglas Debates, “Freeport doctrine”, raid on Harper’s Ferry, election of 1860, Jefferson Davis, Ft. Sumter, Crittenden Compromise

Slavery Today

Slavery is alive and well in the world today. Estimates are that there are somewhere between 10 to 30 million people enslaved around the world today, including the United States. US State Department estimates that up to 17,000 people are "trafficked" into the United States every year to serve as slaves. They are a population hidden from view who are forced into prostitution, farm work, or domestic servitude against their will and without compensation, freedom or rights. To learn more about the tragedy of modern slavery and to take action to end slavery, visit the following sites or view the documentary below which stars the rapper Common.

The Frederick Douglass Family Foundation
CNN Freedom Project
Free The Slaves
"The Girls Next Door" (groundbreaking article about sex slavery in America)
10 Quick Shocking (but not verified by me)Facts About Slavery


The South & Slavery

For Friday 12/16: Read pages 348-370 (Chapter 16).
1. How did the development of the cotton economy change the South? Consider the economy and demographics.
2. What effect did it have on slavery? What effect might this have had on national politics and the political priorities in the South?
3. Describe the distinct classes that made up white society. How was this social system different from the North’s society?
4. What was slavery like for the average African American in the 1800s?
5. What was life like for free African Americans?
6. Why were there so few slave rebellions in America? How did slaves resist slavery?
7. How did slave culture evolve to help African Americans adapt to and survive the brutality of slavery?
8. How was African American language, music, religion and family different from those of the whites around them? Did these cultural institutions affect America in the long term?
9. What were the first abolitionists like (American Colonization Society)? Why did they not succeed?
10. What was different about William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator? What affect did they have on the South?
11. Did the North accept the new abolitionists? Why?
12. How did the South defend slavery?
Know the significance of the following: Upper South, Deep South, “Black Belt”, “cavaliers”, planters, Nat Turner, American Colonization Society, William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, Elijah Lovejoy, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth