Assignment
Instructions: 750 word minimum/1000 word maximum. Use and cite from the Revel ebook, include 2 additional sources to help inform your response. Standard introduction, body, conclusion with a compelling thesis is expected. Civil War Instructions: The first black African slaves arrived in what would become the United States in 1619, and by the time of American independence from Britain, slavery was practiced throughout the country. By the early 1800s, however, slavery largely disappeared in the North, even as it became more prominent and more entrenched in the South. As the boom in textile manufacturing, both in the Northeast and in Britain, increased the demand for Southern grown cotton, the Southern economy's dependence on slavery grew ever stronger. At the same time, Southern culture embedded the institution of slavery and a system of racial hierarchy all the more firmly. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president as a Republican, a party that clearly opposed the extension of slavery, many Southerners came to believe that the institution faced immediate existential threat. As a result of Lincoln's election, South Carolina seceded from the country in December 1860. In the months that followed, growing regional hostility led ten other states to follow. The decision to secede from the union did not come lightly to the political leaders of the states that joined the Confederacy. They were aware that they would most likely be forced to defend their secession through military conflict with an industrially and numerically superior North. Consider the many obstacles that stood in the way of southern independence, and the conviction required to take that step. Think also about the role of slavery in southern life, on a material level as well as a cultural level. Write an essay that explains how Southern political leaders became convinced that the institution of slavery was under attack by the North, and especially by Lincoln and the Republican party. Your essay should explain how the debates over the future of slavery changed in the generation before the Civil War began in 1861. Why was slavery so important to Southern political leaders that they seceded? Your response must contain a minimum of 750 words and citations from the textbook (Keene, section).
Regarding Essay #3, the instructions note that slavery started in 1619, your essay should not focus much before 1850 politics. 1619 is a simple reminder that slavery had been staple of business for over 200 years. Focus on the following instructions:
Think also about the role of slavery in southern life, on a material level as well as a cultural level. Write an essay that explains how Southern political leaders became convinced that the institution of slavery was under attack by the North, and especially by Lincoln and the Republican party. Your essay should explain how the debates over the future of slavery changed in the generation before the Civil War began in 1861. Why was slavery so important to Southern political leaders that they seceded?
Note at least 2 southern political leaders. You should be able to identify multiple debates/opinions over slavery (immediate emancipation, gradual abolition, free soil, status quo, and expansion).