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:
Economy and culture of Northern and Southern Societies
The experience of slavery and rise of the Abolitionist Movement
Sectionalism and Political Compromise
Kansas-Nebraska Act and John Brown
The Lincoln-Douglas debates to the attack on Fort Sumter
Unit Essay: The Politics of Slavery
In order to complete this project you must write an essay on the following Topic:
Attachments: Politics of Slavery Timeline.doc
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.)