Archive for November, 2010

30 Nov

Choose your small topic for 4 minute drill presentation

Posted by scoop2go in Assignments, Chapter 21, Chapter 22.

Your topics have now been assigned to you, mostly based on your requests if you gave them tto me. They are posted on the front whiteboard. Get your project done early.

What you are eventually going to produce is a four minute presentation (not more or less), with either an audio or visual prop, and a sheet of paper suitable for posting with ten important or interesting facts about your topic.

This will be due December 9 and 10.

Examples of some weirder topics:

What naval battle was fought off the coast of France during the Civil War?

In what battle did the Confederates resort to throwing rocks at the enemy?

What were the deadliest 20 minutes of the Civil War?

Was Wilmer McLean the unluckiest man in the Civil War?

How did Stonewall Jackson die?

How did the US Sanitation Commission change medical practices on the battlefield?

Who was Stand Watie, and what did he do during the Civil War?

What improvements to weaponry were influential during the Civil War?

How witchy was Lincoln’s wife?

What role did Clara Barton play, and how has her impact continued?

Who was Jesse James?

What was Missouri’s role in the Civil War?

What role did Irish troops play in the Battle of Fredericksburg?

What do General James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson have in common?

What are some firsts about Abraham Lincoln as president?

How was Arlington National Cemetery created?

Who were the TWO Jefferson Davises of the Civil War?

How was Mary Todd Lincoln’s family involved in the Civil War?

26 Nov

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural

Posted by scoop2go in Chapter 21, Civil War.

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it–all sought to avert it. While the inaugeral [sic] address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war–seeking to dissole [sic] the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope–fervently do we pray–that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether”

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan–to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

24 Nov

Chapter 22 questions

Posted by scoop2go in Assignments, Chapter 22.

Chapter 22 questions

These are due — complete– Monday, November 29.

1. Why did some freedmen find themselves re-enslaved? (Just for fun: how do the last four words on page 479 constitute a pun?) In what ways did former slaves repudiate their slave life?

2. How did “emancipation… strengthen the black family?”

3. What were exodusters, and why did they go to Kansas? (Think: What does the name signify?)

4. What evidence shows that the freedman who wrote the letter to his former master will not consider returning to his former master? What did freedom literally mean for former slaves as hinted at in this letter?

5. What did the American Missionary Association do? Why was this task so significant?

6. What was the goal of the Freedmen’s Bureau (research what the full title of this organization actually was)? Explain whether it was effective or not, and whether white Southerners were right to resent it? Think: how does this agency establish an important precedent in terms of the growth of the federal government? Why did Johnson veto renewal of this agency in 1866?

7. What factors worked against Johnson’s success as president? Include his attitudes in your answer. How had he become an acceptable running mate for Lincoln?

8. How had Reconstruction actually begun before the war was over? What was Lincoln’s plan like, and why was it criticized? How did congressional leaders counter this plan?

9. Contrast Lincoln’s legal argument regarding secession with that of the Radical Republicans. Make sure you use specific terms.

10. How did Johnson’s ascendance to the presidency throw Reconstruction plans into further turmoil? Did Johnson’s version of Reconstruction demand real change from the South? Justify your answer.

11. How did the Black Codes work? How did sharecropping help the South “solve” its labor problem?

12. What were “whitewashed rebels?” (You may need to research what “whitewashing” means.) How did emancipation threaten to INCREASE the political power of the South in the House of Representatives? What specific programs were threatened if Democrats regained political power by reuniting?

13. What was the Civil Rights Bill passed, and what did it eventually become? Think constitutionally: Why was this change in status important?

14. What was ultimately the importance of the 14th Amendment, then and now? What are its two most important phrases today?

15. Examine the quotes of Southerners scattered throughout the chapter. What emotional response did they refuse to give in the wake of their military defeat? How did their “10 percent” governments reinforce this impression?

16. What did Johnson hope to accomplish with his “Swing ‘Round the Circle?” How did that turn out?

17. What political realities seemed to ensure that the Republicans would vanquish “Old Andy?” How was the Republican party divided? Who were the radicals’ leaders? How did the radicals’ plans clash with those of the moderate Republicans?

18. How did the Reconstruction Amendments disappoint those who supported women’s rights, and how did they respond?

19. How was the 15th Amendment more radical than the 14th?

20 How did African Americans flex their political muscle during the Reconstruction era? Why were these called “radical regimes?”

21. What’s the difference between scalawags and carpetbaggers? What offense were they accused of by Southerners?

22. Describe the creation of the Klan. What was their agenda?

23. What methods were used to disenfranchise blacks after the Civil War? (And how did they get away with it?

24. What trap did the radical Republicans lay to try to get rid of Johnson as president? What role did Edwin Stanton play in this trap?

25. How close did Johnson come to being removed from office? Why would the president of the Senate have been next in line to become president if Johnson had been removed?

26. What was “Seward’s Folly?” Did it pay off?

27. Some historians have called the Civil Rights era a “Second Reconstruction?” Why was this second reconstruction necessary?

28. What are Eric Foner’s views of Reconstruction?

22 Nov

The Emancipation Proclamation

Posted by scoop2go in Chapter 21, Civil War, Primary Source Document, Slavery.

Five days after the “victory” at Antietam, Lincoln changed the purpose of the Civil War with his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. With these few words, Lincoln changed the reason for fighting from the legalistic “preservation of the Union” to the moral and ethical imperative of “freedom and emancipation.” Frankly, many in Congress felt that Lincoln should have definitively rejected slavery much sooner, and there was the danger that Congress would act on this impulse whether Lincoln agreed or not.

As you read, consider the following questions:
1. What would have happened to slaves living in areas NOT in rebellion against the government, i.e. the Border States like Missouri, under the terms of this proclamation?
2. Why does Lincoln specifically list the areas to which this proclamation applied? Why are the areas of emancipation so tightly defined? Why were some counties (counties are called “parishes” in Louisiana) excluded?
3. Lincoln first wrote a draft of the proclamation in July of 1862. Why didn’t he issue it then? (Think– what was going on in the war at the time?)

The Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln, September 22, 1862

By the President of the United States of America: A PROCLAMATION

Whereas on the 22nd day of September, A.D. 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
“That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

“That the executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.”
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-In-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for supressing said rebellion, do, on this 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the first day above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States the following, to wit:

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Palquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebone, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Morthhampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all case when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

Link for further information:
Freedom at Antietam
The Antietam Battlefield

21 Nov

Walt Whitman’s “Beat! Beat! Drums!”

Posted by scoop2go in Chapter 21, Civil War.

(Written after the 1st Battle of Bull Run/ Manassas)

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
Into the school where the scholar is studying;
Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with
his bride,
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering
his grain,
So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets;
Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers
must sleep in those beds,
No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators—would
they continue?
Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?
Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge?
Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,
Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,
Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,
Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,
Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the
hearses,
So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

The poet, photographed during the war, by famous photographer Matthew Brady

18 Nov

Review of Sectionalism and Expansion

Posted by scoop2go in Antebellum era, Audiovisual and video, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, National Expansion, Nationalism/sectionalism, Sectionalism, Slavery.

Review of the various compromises made to accommodate territorial expansion and the question of slavery, etc. from our beloved Mr. Wallace!

17 Nov

Chapter 21 Outline

Posted by scoop2go in Chapter 21, Civil War, Study Skills.

Due Monday, Nov. 22.

Chapter 21 Outline for notes

I. Phase One; 1861-1862: The Confederates in Control
—–A. Bull Run and “Stonewall” Jackson
—–B. McClellan’s bungling
———-1. Peninsula Campaign
—–C. Lee’s mastery
———-1. Seven Days’ Battles
—–D. Total War and Blockade Running
———-1. Merrimack and Monitor
—–E. 2nd Bull Run
—–F. Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation
———-How does this change the purpose of the war? What impact, real and philosophical, does it have?

II. 1863: The Tipping Point
—–A. Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
———-Death of Jackson—impact
—–B. Gettysburg
———-1. Meade
———-2. Pickett’s charge
———-3. Peace delegation
———-4. Address
—–C. Rise of Grant in the West
———-1. Shiloh
———-2. New Orleans
———-3. Vicksburrg

III. 1864-1865: The Union Gains Momentum
—–A. Grant goes East
———-1. Chickamauga
—–B. Sherman Burns through Georgia
—–C. Wilderness Campaign and Cold Harbor
—–D. Appomattox

IV. Politics of War
—–A. Weakness of Democratic Party
———-1. War Dems
———-2. Peace Dems
———-3. Copperheads
———-4. Vallandingham
—–B. Radical Republicans push Lincoln
———-1. Salmon Chase
—–C. Election of 1864
———-1. Union party
———-2. McClellan for prez
—–D. Assassination
—–E. Why is the Civil War a tipping point in US history? What did it all mean?

16 Nov

terms for chapter 21

Posted by scoop2go in Chapter 21.

Apparently, I omitted the terms for chapter 21 in your packet, so look under the tab above that says “Terms for semester 1 chapters” and they will be there at the bottom of the page where they should be.

Sorry!!

11 Nov

Important reminders

Posted by scoop2go in Test Preparation, Weird stuff.

1. Make sure you have prepared for your test tomorrow over chapter 17-19.

2. Make sure you have read and reviewed the blog posts and the reading you received over Manifest Destiny.

3. I will not be here on Friday. Please bring your textbooks so that you can start your outlines for chapter 20 after you finish your test. I have already published the outlines below this post, and you will receive a copy in class tomorrow as well.

11 Nov

Chapter 20 outlines

Posted by scoop2go in Antebellum era, Chapter 20, Civil War.

Chapter 20 Outlines– due Monday, November 15, 2010

I. What would it take for the South to Win?

A. Advantages

1. Military leadership (name and identify leaders) 2. Defensive War 3. Psychological– what were they fighting for?

B. Disadvantages

1. Population  2. Economy–lack of diversification 3. Military– navy, willingness to fight away from home 4. Foreign relations  5. How to pay for war/debt

C. Government– how is the Confederate government organized?

1. Effectiveness of Jefferson Davis/political leaders

2. Effectiveness and features of Confederate constitution

3. Unity of states?

D. Would King Cotton let them down? Explain.

E. What about the Border states?

II. What would it take for the North to win?

A. Advantages

1. Population and immigration  2. Economy (petroleum, millionaires, diversity)– why does it boom? 3. Foreign relations 4. How to pay for war  5. Navy

B. Disadvantages

1. Military leadership (name and describe)  2. Dislike of slavery/Lincoln 3. Must win offensive war 4. What were they fighting for?

C. Government– how effective was the Union government?

1. Effectiveness of Lincoln/political leaders

2. Lincoln and civil liberties– how far is he willing to go to save the Union?

3. Unity of states/public opinion

D. What about the Border States?

III. Johnny Reb versus Billy Yank

A. Brother versus brother

B. Volunteers versus draftees– how and why did it happen for each side, and when?

1. Who was exempt from service? 2. Bounties and substitutes 3. Resisters– Irish and “mountain whites”

C. Effects of war on soldiers

D. Effect of war on African Americans on both sides

E. How were the first shots fired at Ft. Sumter?

IV. Advances during wartime

A. Economic

1. Banking system  2. Millionaires and coal oil johnnies

B. Sanitation and health

C. Role of women expanded

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