Assignments for Unit 4: A House Divided

#401: Slavery and Compromise

Read/view:Consider:
  • Why is slavery as practiced in the U.S. South before 1865 widely viewed as immoral today?
  • Given the human suffering caused by slavery, what arguments do you think Southern political figures like John Calhoun might have used against abolitionists?
  • Evaluate the costs and benefits of the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. If you had been a member of the U.S. Senate in the 1850s would you have supported these agreements? Why or why not?
Materials needed for class:
  • Please bring  Foner to class.

#402: John Brown: "Bleeding Kansas" and Harpers Ferry

Read:
The following reading assignment is not long, but is unfortunately broken up in three locations:
  • Read Foner 387-88 (“ ‘Bleeding Kansas’ and the Election of 1856”).
  • Read Foner 391, 394 (“John Brown at Harpers Ferry”).
  • Review the timeline and read documents A-C in the Stanford John Brown PDF.
Consider:
  • How might you argue that John Brown should be viewed as a “hero”?
  • Alternatively, how might you argue that John Brown should be viewed as a “misguided fanatic”?
Materials needed for class:
  • Copy of Foner and the Stanford John Brown reading (print or digital).
Picture
John Brown, c. 1856

#403: Visions of “Freedom”: Stephens vs. Lincoln

​Read:
  • Read first five pages of President Lincoln's First Inaugural Address (Course Reader, 51-57 only).
  • Read Stephens’ Cornerstone Address (Course Reader 59-61).
  • Optional background: Foner 397-400.
Consider:
  • How do Lincoln and Stephens each understand “freedom”? How are their visions similar and different?
Materials needed for class:
  • Please bring the Course Reader to class.
Picture
Republican election banner, 1860. Library of Congress.

#404: Emancipation Proclamation

Read:
  • Read Foner, 410-16 (“Slavery and the War,” “Steps toward Emancipation,” “Lincoln’s Decision,” and “The Emancipation Proclamation”).
  • Read “Letter to Horace Greeley” (Google Doc).
  • Read “The Emancipation Proclamation” (Course Reader 63-64).
Consider:
  • Do the arguments in the Emancipation support or contradict President Lincoln’s private arguments to Greeley?
  • President Lincoln is careful to argue that he has the Constitutional authority to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. Which part of the Constitution might support this argument?
  • What possible strategic benefits might the Union enjoy by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation? Are any of these mentioned in the document?
Materials needed for class:
  • Please bring Foner, the Course Reader, and a copy of "Letter to Horace Greeley" (print or digital) to class.
Picture
"Freed Negros Celebrating President Lincoln's Decree of Emancipation," a fanciful engraving from the French periodical Le Monde Illustré, 21 March 1863. Foner, 415.
#405: Gettysburg and Sacrifice​
Read: Consider:
  • What meanings do Lincoln and Whitman ascribe to the death and suffering that occurred during the Civil War?​
Materials needed for class:
  • Neither Foner nor the Course Reader are needed for class. However, please do remember to charge your laptop.
#406 Design a Civil War memorial
  • Design your own Civil War monument or memorial by sketching out a design on paper and, in your journal, defending your design by answering the following questions in an 8-12 sentence paragraph:
    • Who would it honor?
    • What would it look like?
    • Where would it be located?
    • What words or symbols would it contain?
    • What message would it aim to convey to the public?
#407 Rebuilding the Nation
  • Read Foner 454-66 ("The Making of Radical Reconstruction" and "Radical Reconstruction in the South)." Please bring your books to class.
  • Consider:
    1. In 1865, former Confederate general Robert Richardson remarked that “the emancipated slaves own nothing, because nothing but freedom has been given to them.” Would this still be an accurate assessment of Reconstruction twelve years later in 1877?
    2. What steps did the newly-reformed Southern state governments take to limit right for black Americans? How did the federal government respond?
    3. How did the women’s movement respond to the Reconstruction era Constitutional amendments (note, particularly, the reaction to the Fifteenth Amendment).
#408 Reconstruction Simulation: Preparation
  • Spend up to 30 minutes examining the documents linked from your character page (see “Cast of Characters”).
  • Note that we will not discuss the question of whether the President or Congress should lead Reconstruction. Instead, we will divide the question of rights for black Americans into two questions:
    • Political rights: voting or standing for office, rights of the accused, and other rights like those discussed in the Bill of Rights and/or that pertain to participation in politics or civil society.
    • Social and economic rights: anything pertaining to "free labor" as well as the rights to education, housing, etc.
  • Note that tomorrow in class you will have time to continue to continue reading the documents. Outside sources may be consulted but will not count as evidence for the assignment.
#409 Reconstruction Simulation: Outline
  • Spend up to 30 minutes outlining how you plan to organize your answers to the following questions:
    • Under what conditions should the South be allowed back into the Union? Who in the former Confederate States of America should be pardoned?
    • What political rights should Free Blacks and Freedmen acquire?
    • What social and economic rights should Free Blacks and Freedmen acquire?
    • Should Reconstruction be implemented on a national or state level? Why does this distinction matter?
  • As you prepare your outline remember that an outstanding position statement will:
    • Make a clear argument that accurately represents your character’s viewpoint.
    • Incorporate biographical details from your individual “Cast of Characters” bio (for the list of bios, click here).
    • Utilize and cite(!) evidence presented in both Foner and Harper’s Weekly.
    • Address and defuse counterarguments.
#410 Reconstruction Simulation: Revise
  • Revise your draft statement from class. You will be asked to submit your completed document at the beginning of next class before we begin our mock convention.
#411/#500 Reconstruction Wrap Up
  • Read Foner 466-73 (“The Overthrow of Reconstruction”)
  • Consider:
    • What national issues and attitudes combined to bring an end to Reconstruction in 1877?
    • How did the failure of Reconstruction policies impact black Americans?
  • ​Materials needed for next class:
    • Neither Foner nor our Course Reader will be needed for next class. Please do bring a charged laptop.