Chapter 14: The Civil War

Below please find the questions on the Civil War chapter written by your classmate, Zane McBean. Please answer at least one of these questions in a response that is a minimum of one paragraph in length.

Recruitment poster for the U.S.C.T. from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University

1) What were some of the issues that the Confederacy had in obtaining enough troops for its war effort?

2) Who benefited the most economically and politically by the end of the Civil War, and how?

3) Who, in your opinion, was the most influential individual on the course of events during the war, and what successes or failures by this individual turned the tide of it?

Chapter 13: The Impending Crisis

Free State Battery in Kansas, 1856

Here are the Chapter 13 questions written by your classmate, Theda Clay. Please answer at least one of these in a response of roughly two paragraphs in length:

1) What were the justifications presented for having slavery or not having slavery in the western territories?

2) Why did a rebellion in Texas occur between the Mexican government and the American settlers in 1835?  After Texas obtained its independence, why was there opposition to it joining the United States? Do you think that President Polk’s push for war was legitimate?

3) Why was the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed? Why was their so much controversy over the creation of a territorial government following the passage of the act? Why was the territory eventually called “Bleeding Kansas”?

4) What was the decision in the Dred Scott case, and what effect did this judgment have on African Americans in the United States?

Chapter 12: Antebellum Culture and Reform

Frederick Douglass c. 1850 by an unknown photographer

Below please find this week’s web questions written by your classmate, Tania Mock:

1. As the feminist movement emerged in the 1840s, why was it so hard for women to gain rights equal to men’s in the context of the society and culture of the antebellum era?
2. Why do you think the idea behind the American Colonization Society (ACS) was ultimately unsuccessful?
3. William Lloyd Garrison was perhaps the most famous abolitionist. But how much did his views affect the broader society? How much influence did he really have?
4. Frederick Douglass is one of the most famous fugitive slaves in American history. Do you think his life experience gave hope to other slaves?

“Essential Questions” Videos from Top Historians

FYI: The Gilder Lehrman Institute just posted a series of short videos in which top historians address key questions in American history that we have and will examine in this course, like: How was North America settled before European colonization? What caused the American Revolution? How did “Manifest Destiny” shape the American West? What caused the Civil War? These could be very helpful in prepping for the final exam! Here is the link.

Chapter 11: Cotton, Slavery & The Old South

Contemporary woodcut illustration of the Nat Turner Revolt (1831)

Below please find this week’s web questions written by your classmate, Desiree Perez. Please note that  you need to respond to just one or two in your comments.

1) What, in your opinion, was one of the main reasons the South didn’t experience a great industrial transformation as in the North? Why?

2) Why do you think Southerners claimed they led a more refined life than the North? Do you think they really believed this?

3) What was a greater factor in keeping slave revolts to a minimum? The fear of punishment and death or the manipulative concept of paternalism?

4) What effect did slave revolts, such as the Nat Turner Revolt, have on the relationship between slaves and their masters? Did they give slaves more leverage in their relationship with their masters or did they just make life more difficult? Why?

The Long, Bitter Trail Essay Assignment

Modification of a twenty-dollar bill by Native American artist, Steve Judd

You can find the guidelines for the The Long, Bitter Trail writing assignment here, or under “Course Documents” in the column on the right. Please note that this paper will be due on Tuesday, April 24th. Please read these guidelines over carefully and be prepared to tell me which question you will be writing about in class on April 17th. Let me know if you have any questions about this assignment, and have a wonderful rest of your break!

The Long, Bitter Trail: Chapters 2 & 3

Cól-lee, a Band Chief (Cherokee), painted by George Catlin (1834)

Below please find this week’s web questions written by your classmate, Nicky Bangs. He wrote quite a few questions, but you need to respond to just one or two in your comments.

1) Why does Wallace claim that white inhabitants of the South feared the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes” more than the “savage Indians?”

2) Wallace puts forth the claim that not all white men of the early nineteenth century felt Indians were inferior; many saw them as untutored men with equal reasoning abilities to white men. But were there any whites who truly had no prejudice?  Doesn’t the notion of “civilizing” another group of people suggest prejudice in itself?

3) What methods–either intentional or unintentional–other than conquest were used to drive natives from their land?

4) Is there any merit to Cass’s “hunter state” theory? What are its pitfalls? What aspects of Native American culture does it neglect to acknowledge?

5) How did white Northerners and Southerners differ in their perceptions of and interactions with the neighboring Indian tribes?

6) Was the U.S. breaking any laws in executing the Indian removals? If so, which ones? Do you think that the fact that the Cherokee wrote their own constitution as a sovereign nation had any effect on the morality of the removals?

Worst President Ever?

This is not an official class “web comment,” but I really wanted to bring this item to your attention. Once you have read a bit of the Wallace book, go ahead and take a look at this blog post by a historian who writes under the name “The Public Professor.” What do you think of the argument that he lays out for declaring Andrew Jackson our worst president ever? Do you think the idea of calling the removals a case of “ethnic cleansing” is useful? If you do respond, it will count toward your web comment grade.

Chapter 7: The Jeffersonian Era

We have two sets of questions this week: one for the “Jeffersonian Era” chapter of the textbook, and one for The Long Bitter Trail. Please choose to answer one or two from either group.

The following questions for the textbook reading were written by Farhana Patwary:

1) How did the Industrial Revolution in England affect the United States?  What was the industrial sector like in the U.S. in the early 1800s compared to England’s? Which invention was most significant and why? What invention effected the slave population and how?

2) What were the causes of the war of 1812? Why did the war cause the Native Americans to become more vulnerable?

3) What were the reasons why it was so easy for Jefferson to purchase Louisiana from France? What was the significance of the Louisiana Purchase for America?

4) What argument did women make for their education in the Jeffersonian period? What new roles did women take on during Second Great Awakening?

5) How did Deism challenge traditional values or beliefs for Americans? What does the Second Great Awakening tell us about the overall popularity of Deism?

Chief John Ross

Here are the questions for the introduction of The Long Bitter Trail written by Jamacie Cummings:

1) In 1828 Andrew Jackson became president after losing in 1824. Do you think Jackson establishing the reputation as “prime remover of the Indian-removal”  helped him win the second time around?

2) Historians like Michael Paul Rogin believe the American of the Jacksonian Era saw Indians as untamed and wild beings that threatened their civilized society. They thought Indians would corrupt the white man resulting in the same savage behavior. If this theory is true, could it explain why Indians who adopted white culture like John Ross were persecuted?

3) It is noted that many history textbooks books fail to give a proper and in-depth look at the treatment of American Indians during the removal of the 1830s. Instead focus is made on the economy or politics of that time. Why do you think this is?

Chapter 6 Questions: The Constitution and the New Republic

Here are the Chapter 6 questions written by your classmate, Fahmida Ahmed:

1. During the Constitutional Convention, there were many debates in regard to slaves and how they should be represented as part of the population. Both parties (the states with a heavy slave population vs. states where slavery was disappearing or on the verge) had opposing views. How did the Convention arrive at the “Three-Fifths Compromise”? How could it be justified that states would benefit politically from the slave population, which in fact had no political rights? And how did freed slaves fit into this system of political representation?

2. Besides the controversies over slavery, what were the biggest problems facing the convention in regard to forming a well established government?

3.  Why is it that in the original Constitution, the members of the House of Representatives were chosen by the people, yet the Senate was chosen by state legislatures? Was it better to have it that way, or do you think the current system of directly elected both chambers of Congress is better?