Essay Question: Many historians have since viewed the American Civil War as an inevitable clash of economic forces, racial and social divisions and a clear separation of political definitions between states rights and national sovereignty, especially as the nation continued to expand.Compare the political, economic and social events leading to the American Civil War with one other recent internal division in regions of the world such as Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, Israel/Palestine and others.Then determine the potential outcome of such divisions based on your historical hindsight of the American Civil War.
Project Based Lesson: Sectional Theatre Students will research and analyze the events leading to the American Civil War and then use the daily topics studied in class to present a skit or play representing both sides of these divisive issues.Students will present their skits to the class in order to encourage discussion on the accuracy of sentiment and public record for the coming of war in America.
Readings/Internet: Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, speeches by Harriet Tubman, John Brown and Frederick Douglass
Links Lesson: 1) Story Plot chart on Uncle Toms Cabin, including details on characters, setting and plot, 2) Divided Page analysis of each of the seven Lincoln/Douglas Debates focusing on content and impact, 3) Visual storyboard of pre-Civil War events leading to the war itself
Essential Questions: 1) Can literature (stories) change society, or the world? 2) In the world today, do all human rights apply to all people?3) Should the people of a new territory or nation have authority to always determine their own destiny? 4) What factors determine the power of persuasion? 5) Is violence against your own government ever justified?
Identification Terms
John C. Calhoun
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Stephen A. Douglas
Potawamie Massacre
Compromise of 1850
Bloody Kansas
John Brown
Daniel Webster
Harpers Ferry Raid
Roger B. Taney
James Buchanan
Popular sovereignty
Frederick Douglass
Abolition Movement
Jefferson Davis
John C. Freemont
Theodore Weld
Dred Scott Decision
Abraham Lincoln
Grimke Sisters
Uncle Toms Cabin
Republican Party
Free Soil Party
Slavery Expansion
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Henry Clay
Cotton Economics
Lincoln/Douglas Debate
Election of 1860
Fugitive Slave Act
Short Answer Questions
1.Describe the ideological positions of John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster and Henry Clay concerning states rights and slave expansion.
2.Fully explain the justification the Supreme Court used for the Dred Scott decision and then counter it using logical & evidence.
3.To what degree were the tactics of the abolitionists effective in helping to stop the expansion of slavery and/or ban it outright? Explain.
4.Were John Browns methods in the Harpers Ferry Raid justifiable given the circumstances or not?Justify your answer with evidence.
5.To what extent were the issues of slave expansion & slavery economic or moral?Choose one, both or neither and explain.
6.Describe the provisions of the 1850 Compromise and then justify whether political compromises on slavery were effective or not.
7.Provide a brief biographical sketch of the life of Frederick Douglass and fully examine his impact on the times in which he lived.
8.Briefly describethe story of Uncle Toms Cabin and explain why it had such a profound impact on the social consciousness of its time.
9.Examine the presidencies of Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce & Buchanan concerning the sectional conflict over slavery & rate their performance.
10.If the south had agreed to prevent the expansion of slavery, would the institution have continued?Provide an alternate history.
