Unit 1: The Pre-War Years (1820-1860)

Unit Overview: The Pre-War Years

This unit covers the early 19th century up to the final decade before the Civil War. Important themes in this unit:

Unit Essay: The Politics of Slavery

In order to complete this project you must write an essay on the following Topic:

Kansas Abolitionist and raider of Harper's Ferry, John Brown

Unit Videos:                                      

Civil War Episode 1: The Cause

Unit Lectures: 

The Politics of Slavery, 1787-1860

The Politics of Slavery Essay Class

Unit Primary Sources: 

The Politics of SlaveryThe historian Shelby Foote once commented that the primary cause of the Civil War was that Americans lost their ability to compromise in the three decades preceding the war. Open the attached document, The Politics of Slavery Timeline, which identifies 8 events beginning in the 1830's that center around the politics of slavery. After looking at these events, pick three events from the list and using these events write a 5 paragraph essay of 600 words or more that explains how the lack of compromise between pro and anti-slavery forces in the years between 1830-1860 led to the Civil War.

Civil War Unit 1 Key Terms

For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance. 

Unit 1 Key Terms:

3/5th Compromise    

Abolitionism                                

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854            

Election of 1860

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793           

Slavery Abolition Act of 1833     

Lincoln Douglas Debates

Compromise of 1820

Frederick Douglass                    

Bleeding Kansas

Compromise of 1850                   

Uncle Tom's Cabin                        

Harper's Ferry

Eli Whitney                                   

Dred Scott Decision                   

Sumner assault

Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:

William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)

Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)