Download Civil War AP - Mercer Island School District

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Unit Guide: Slavery and the Civil War
Key Questions
1. What caused the Civil War?
2. Why did compromise between Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery
fail?
3. Why did citizens in the North and South support their respective war efforts?
4. How did politics and war aims influence one another during the Civil War?
5. How was the issue of slavery and freedom for African-Americans linked to the causes
and outcomes of the Civil War?
Mon 11/9
Introduction to unit. The triangle trade (video, document analysis). HW:
1. Read “Sugar and Slavery” (94) and be able to explain the connection between
sugar and the introduction of African slavery to the Americas.
2. Read the last paragraph of page 95 (“West Africans”) to discover how the
treatment of slaves was different in Africa than in the Americas.
3. Read page 97-100. How accurately does the film Amistad depict the movement of
slaves to the New World? List several details.
4. Read “Slavery Comes.” Explain the difference between a society with slaves and
a slave society. Why did Virginia become a slave society in the 18th century? List
some of the laws and restrictions that became part of the Virginia Slave Code in
1705.
5. Read “The Tobacco Colonies” (102) to find out why slavery grew so rapidly in
the 18th century.
6. Read the “lower South” (103) to find out how rice plantations were different than
tobacco plantations.
7. Read slavery in the North (105-6) to find out who owned slaves in the North. By
1750, what proportion of the population of major northeast cities was African
American?
8. Read “Violence and Resistance” (110-112). Know three forms of resistance to
slavery. Know the Stono Rebellion. Be able to explain why there were relatively
few slave rebellions in North America in the 18th century.
9. Read “Colonial Economy” (118)—How did the carrying trade link the economies
of the northeast and the South?
10. Glance at the quick review on page 120 of Southern social structure.
11. Read “White Skin Privilege” (120-121). Answer in writing: What factors led to
the development of racism in Virginia?
Tues 11/10 Slavery and Thomas Jefferson. “Luxury We Can’t Afford” handout--Was
Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? HW: The South and Slavery (chapter 10).
1. Read pp.308-315 to learn about how cotton became King. Draw a chart in which
you map out the effects of the invention of the cotton gin. Be prepared to share
this chart with the class.
2. Read bottom of p.315-middle of p316 to find out how the expansion of cotton
production changed the nature of slave labor.
[Optional: pp.317-326 provides a more detailed view of the lives of slaves
in the 19th century South. If you skip the reading, take a few minutes to
examine the maps and the “quick review” boxes in the margins]
Thurs 11/12 Slavery, and Regionalism. Effects of cotton gin, importance of cotton and
slavery to South. HW:
Read “Freedom and Resistance,” “Slave Revolts,” and “Free African Americans.”
(pp.326-328)
1. Be able to briefly identify the three major slave revolts of the 19th century South:
Gabriel’s Rebellion, the Denmark Vesey Plot, and Nat Turner’s Revolt.
2. List ways that Southern states strengthened their control over free Blacks after
1830.
Read pp.335-339 and
1. Be able to list several justifications for slavery put forth by Southerners in the late
1700s and proslavery arguments developed after 1831.
2. Why is 1831 viewed by historians as a turning point in Southern attitudes toward
slavery?
3. List some of the many ways Southern states strengthened their control over slaves
after 1831.
Fri 11/13
The Southern defense of slavery (document analysis; music). HW: Read
pp.442-445 to learn about the antislavery movement.
1. Be able to explain the differences between the three groups—free AfricanAmericans, Quakers, and militant white reformers—who made up the Abolitionist
movement.
2. As you read, list some of the tactics and strategies used by the Abolitionist
movement.
3. Be able to explain some of the disagreements and divisions within the antislavery
movement.
Mon 11/16 Text 492-505
1. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 give us a crystallization of the debates in
the U.S. over the issue of slavery. It is worth reading pp.492-493 to get a flavor.
2. Expansion and Growth (p.494)—note the last two sentences about the declining
economic importance of slavery.
3. Political Parties and Slavery (p.496)—Be able to explain how did the national
political parties unite the nation? Understand this and you will more easily
understand how compromise fails.
4. Congressional Debate (pp.497-8)—Outline the arguments of the three great
sectional leaders. Note the definition of “slave power” on p.498.
5. Two Communities, Two Perspectives (pp.498-499)—Read about and note how
Northerners and Southerners viewed each other. How would these views make
compromise over slavery more or less likely?
6. Compromises (p.499 ff.)—Be able to explain the different parts of the
Compromise of 1850. Define popular sovereignty.
7. FSA (pp.501-502)—Define personal liberty laws. Why were they passed? Know
and be able to explain what the Fugitive Slave Law did. Be able to explain the
effects of the FSL on northerners.
8. The Election of 1852 (p.503)—Explain how the Election of 1850 affected the
Whig Party in the elections of 1852.
9. Kansas-Nebraska Act (pp.505-506)—Why did Douglas introduce this Bill? Know
what it did. How did it affect the two major political parties?
Tues 11/17 Compromise (intro); Abolitionists after 1831; Evaluation of Compromises
over slavery. HW: text pp.506-521.
1. Bleeding Kansas (pp.506-507) Note and be able to explain who fought whom and
why. How did events in Kansas affect the sections views toward each other?
2. Politics of Nativism, Republican Party and the Election of 1856 (pp.506-510)—
Read about two new political parties that spring up in the 1850s as the old parties
begin to weaken. What are the positions of the Know-Nothing and Republican
Parties? Who was attracted to them?
3. The Differences Deepen (pp.511-514)—Read about how a series of crises in the
late 1850s drive southerners and northerners further apart and make compromise
less likely. Be able to explain the basic facts of the caning of Senator Sumner
(511), the Dred Scott decision (511-512), the Lecompton Constitution (512), and
John Brown’s Raid (514).
4. The election of 1860 (pp.515-516)—Be able to identify the candidates and
explain each party’s position on slavery and its extension. Why does the textbook
claim the ”true winner of the 1860 election was sectionalism?”
5. The South Leaves the Union (pp.516-518)—How and why did the South leave the
Union?
Wed 11/18 Fugitive Slave Law; the collapse of national parties and crises of the
Union. HW: Gather notes for DBQ.
Thurs 11/19 DBQ Prep
Fri 11/20
In-class DBQ (essay): Expansion and Compromise
******Coming Soon: More detailed questions for selected textbook sections*******
Mon 11/23 1860 Election, Secession, Sumter. HW: text 530-541
1. Read pp.530-531 to learn how unprepared the Union was for war. Note at least
two details.
2. Fort Sumter, Call to Arms (532) Review how the war began and Lincoln’s
response to the fall of Sumter.
3. Border States (533-534) Be able to identify and locate Border States on the quiz.
Be prepared to explain whether you agree with the text’s description of arrests in
Maryland as “violations of basic civil rights…justified on the basis of national
security.”
4. North and South (534-535) Add to your notes on advantages of the North and
South.
5. Lincoln takes charge (535-536) As you read list examples of Lincoln’s forceful
leadership. If he was opposed to slavery, why did he rescind the emancipation
order in Missouri?
6. Expanding Fed Power (536-537) This is an important theme in US History. Read
about one of the significant results of the Civil War—the expansion of federal
government power. List and be able to explain how the four Acts of Congress
strengthened the national government.
7. Diplomatic Objectives (538) The first paragraph is the important part where the
text tells you that the Confederacy hoped Britain would support their causes
because of Cotton.
8. Jefferson Davis (539) tells you how hard it was to unify seceded states into a
Confederacy.
9. Confederate Disappointments and Contradictions (540-541) introduces some of
the reasons the war effort lost the support of Southerners. Why was it called a
“rich man’s war?”
Tues 11/24
1.
2.
3.
4.
Military strategies North and South. HW: text 541-547 (1862,
Emancipation)
Be able to explain the three major parts of the Union military strategy at the start
of the war (capturing Richmond; a naval blockade; control of the Mississippi).
Be able to define “contrabands” and explain how they were important for the
Union.
As Lincoln moved closer to a proclamation of emancipation in 1862, what
political concerns did he have to weigh in his mind?
“Black Fighting Men” (547-8) will give you a preview of a film we will watch
after Thanksgiving break.
Wed 11/25
Politics and War Aims: Emancipation. HW: Eat Pie!
Mon 11/30 Opposition to the War. Film: Glory. HW: text 549-554
1. “Toll of War”—Read about the high casualty rates and their causes.
2. “Army Nurses”—Read about necessary improvements in hospital care.
3. “Life of Common Soldier”—Note the desertion rate and the unauthorized
absences (This is great evidence of decreased support for the war)
4. “Wartime Politics”--Know the Copperheads and what they stood for (quiz). Why
did Lincoln jail 13,000 without trial?
5. “Economic and Social Strains”—Why did Northerners believe the slogan “a rich
man’s war but a poor man’s fight?” Who actually fought for the Union?
6. “Draft Riots”—Know the causes of the NY draft riots.
7. “Failure of Southern nationalism”—List the many challenges faced by the
Confederacy at home.
Tues 12/1
Film: Glory. HW: text 555-561
1. (p.555) Why does your textbook suggest that “the Civil War became the first total
war?”
2. How did Lee’s invasion of Maryland and PA in June 1963 fit with what we have
learned about the Confederate war strategy?
3. “Grant and Sherman” What were these two generals’ attitudes toward
Confederate slaves?
4. “Nearing the End”—How did the north’s population prove to be an advantage in
1864?
5. “Appomattox” and “Death”—How did Grant and Lee set the tone for how
Confederates would be treated after the war?
Wed 12/2
Why did Northern soldiers fight? (document analysis, writing assignment).
1863—A turning point. HW: prep for seminar on Gettysburg Address.
Thurs 12/3 Seminar: Gettysburg Address.
Fri 12/4
Politics and War Aims: Total War and the Election of 1864. HW: Test
Mon 12/7
Test.