Chapter 16
1)The bitter controversy over slavery is reflected in the visual images of the peculiar institution. Some images present slavery from an abolitionist viewpoint, as a moral horror. Others depict it in benign or even favorable terms. Examine the following photos or illustrations in this chapter 1) A Market in People; 2) A Slave Auction; 3) The Cruelty of Slavery; 4) Slave Nurse and Young White Master; 5) Slaves Being Marched from Staunton, Virginia to Tennessee; 6) Am I Not a Man and a Brother. Am I not a Woman and a Sister?; and 7) in Defense of Slavery. Then answer the following questions.
- Which five images plainly depict negative features of the slave system? Which visual details point to the mistreatment of the slaves?
- How does the image, In Defense of Slavery, present the peculiar institution in a positive light. What are the visual points of contrast with the condition of British workers?
- The photograph of Slave Nurse and Young White Master seems neither directly “pro slavery” nor “antislavery.” How might supporters or opponents of slavery each interpret this image of a slave nanny with a white child?
2) How did the reliance on cotton production and slavery affect the South economically, socially, and morally, and how did this reliance affect its relations with the North?
3) Describe the complex structure of southern society. How was the wealth and status of plantation owners, small slaveholders, independent white farmers, poor whites, free blacks, and black slaves each fundamentally shaped by the peculiar institution of slavery.
Chapter 17
MAPS
1) Using the maps and charts in Chapter 17, answer the following questions
- Maine Boundary Settlement, 1842: The Webster-Ashburton Treaty line settled the boundary between the American state of Maine and which two Canadian Provinces?
- The Oregon Controversy, 1846: The part of the Oregon Country that was in dispute between the United States and Britain lay between what two boundaries?
- Major Campaigns of the Mexican War: Which major western river did Stephen Kearney have to cross on his Route from Santa Fe to the Battle of San Pasquial in December 1846?
- Major Campaigns of the Mexican War: Name any three of the cities with present-day Mexico that were occupied by the armies of generals Taylor or Scott.
2) Why was the Wilmot Proviso proposal, prohibiting slavery in the whole territory acquired from Mexico so divisive and explosive? Was it intended to reignite sectional controversy or actually to diffuse it?
Chapter 18
Which was the cause, and which was the effect. Answer like the following example, including the why.
(A) Forgetting to set the Alarm Clock (B) Being Late for School
Answer - Forgetting to set the alarm clock is the cause of being late for school because I rely on it every day to get me out of bed.
1. (A) The acquisition of California(B) The Mexican War
2. (A) The death of President Z. Taylor(B) The passage of the Compromise of 1850
3. (A) The Norther aid to fugitive slaves(B) the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law
4. (A) The disappearance of the Whig Party(B) The election of 1852
5. (A) The Compromise of 1850(B) Southern filibuster ventures
6. (A) The Gadsden Purchase(B) The southern plan for a transcontinental railroad
7. (A) The Ostend Manifesto(B) The end of the Pierce administration schemes to
acquire Cuba
8. (A) The Rise of the Republican Party(B) The Kansas-Nebraska Act
9. What were the most fundamental issues causing the sectional crisis and threatening to split the Union in 1850?
10. How similar was the Compromise of 1850 to the Missouri Compromise of 1820? How did each sectional compromise affect the balance of power between North and South? Why could sectional issues be compromised in 1820 and 1850, but not after 1854?
Chapter 19
1)Read Lincoln’s statement from the Lincoln-Douglas debate on p. 450
a)In what ways does Lincoln claim that blacks are equal to whites, and in what ways does he claim that whites are superior?
b)What do the first two sentences tell you about the reason Lincoln is making a distinction between equality of natural rights and complete equality of the races?
2)Read Greeley's New York Tribune editorial on p. 456
a)What two arguments does Greely use for letting the seceding states “go in peace”?
b)The editorial was written three days after Lincoln’s election. What fear is motivating Greely?
3)Argue for or against: John Brown was actually a terrorist who successfully used violence to polarize North and South and help bring on the Civil War.
4)If Congress had passed and the states ratified the Crittenden Compromise, could it have prevented or at least postponed the Civil War? Was Lincoln wrong to kill the Crittenden Compromise without trying it? Why was compromise so successful in 1820 and 1850, but not in 1860?
5)Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans frequently declared that they sought only to prevent the expansion of slavery and not to overturn slavery where it existed. Yet, immediately after Lincoln’s election seven southern states marche out of the Union, without waiting to see what Lincoln’s policies would be. Why? Were southern fears of Lincoln rational or irrational?
Chapter 20
1)Why were the Border States absolutely critical to the Union cause in 1861-1862? How did Lincoln use both political strategy and force to keep the Border States from joining the Confederacy? Was the use of martial law and other harsh means necessary?
2)What changes did the Civil War bring about in civilian society, North and South? How did the war particularly affect women?
3)Some historians have argued that the North’s inherent superiority in manpower and industrial strength made its victory in the Civil War inevitable from the beginning. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
4)Compare Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as political and military leaders of their two countries during the Civil War. How did their personal strengths and weaknesses to some extent reflect the character of the North and South respectively?
Chapter 21
1)Use the maps in the chapter to answer the following:
a)Main Thrusts, 1861-1865: Which two states of the Southeast saw little of the major fighting of the Civil War?
b)Emancipation in the South: In which four states were the slaves all freed by state action -- without any federal involvement
c)Emancipation in the South: Which two states kept slavery until it was finally abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution?
d)The Mississippi River and Tennessee, 1862-1863: On what three rivers were the major Confederate strategic points that Grant successfully assaulted in 1862-1863?
e)Sherman’s March, 1864-1865; What major secessionist South Carolina city was not in the direct path of Sherman’s army in 1864-1865?
f)Grant’s Virginia Campaign, 1864-1865; What major battle of Grant’s final campaign was fought very close to the Confederate capital city?
2)What qualities made Grant so successful, when all the numerous generals Lincoln had earlier tried had largely failed?
3)Why was Lincoln so slow to declare the Civil War as a fight against slavery? Was he wise to move slowly, or could an early Emancipation Proclamation have undermined the Union cause?
4)What should be viewed as the single most critical turning point in the War? a) Antietam b) Gettysburg and Vicksburg c) Atlanta, Mobile, and Shenandoah. Defend your answer.
5)What were the causes and consequences of Sherman’s and Grant’s turn toward total war in the conquest of the South? Was Sherman’s aim of destroying southern civilian morale a fundamentally immoral one? In what ways is it fair to call the Civil War the “First modern War?”
6)Were the costs of the Civil War worth the results to the nation as a whole? What issues were settled by the war, and what new problems were created?
Chapter 22
1)What were the major problems facing the South and the nation after the Civil War? How did Reconstruction address them or fail to do so?
2)What was the purpose of congressional Reconstruction, and what were its actual effects in the South?
3)How did African Americans take advantage of the political, economic, religious, and social opportunities of reconstruction, despite their limitations? In what areas where blacks most successful, and in which the least?
4)What was the greatest success of Reconstruction? Would you agree with historians who argue that even though Reconstruction failed at the time, it laid the foundations for the later successes of the civil rights movement?
5)The Radical Republicans believed that only a complete economic and social revolution, including redistribution of land and property, could permanently guarantee black rights in the South. Where they right? Why were most northerners of the time, including the moderate Republicans, unwilling to support such a drastic government-sponsored transformation?