1. A favorite argument of the South was that the black slave was better off than the wage slave of the North or New England. In what respects was this true? False?
  2. Why did so many people in the North deplore the boat-rocking tactics of the abolitionists and often despise them? Did the abolitionists do more harm than good?
  3. It has been said that by the 1850s each side distrusted the other so greatly that disunion was inevitable: the North because of Southern grasping for more slave territory; the South because of Northern nullification of the Constitution and federal laws. Comment.
  4. Are people ever justified in openly violating laws that they disapprove of and think immoral? Justify both sides. What has been the fate of such laws in US history? Should the majority always rule?
  5. Compare the reaction of the North to the Dred Scott decision of 1857 with that of the South to the Supreme Court decision of 1954 ordering desegregation. To what extent is it true, as Republicans insisted in 1857, that the people are the court of last resort in this country?
  6. Were both Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln segregationists? Was Douglas more pro-popular sovereignty than he was proslavery? Was Lincoln, as often charged, an abolitionist?
  7. Was Lincoln’s election an excuse or a reason for secession? Did the white Southerners have solid grounds for fearing a Republican administration?
  8. During his lifetime, Lincoln was widely regarded in the South and among many Northern Democrats as an inept, joke-telling buffoon. Account for his ranking today as perhaps our greatest president. Is he overrated?
  9. What were the major differences between presidential and congressional Reconstruction plans? What accounts for those different approaches? Who had the better constitutional arguments? Who advocated the soundest policies?
  10. Identify the most serious long-run mistake made during Reconstruction. What have been the effects of that mistake?
  11. In the light of the conditions in the South in the late nineteenth century, could Reconstruction be considered a success or a failure? Why has this been called the darkest hour in the history of African Americans?
  12. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the populism in the South? Did the Populist crusade advance or hinder the struggle of black southerners for social justice?