Unit+5+--+Civil+War+and+Reconstruction


 * Essay 1** -- In what ways and to what extent did constitutional and social developments between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution?


 * Essay 2** -- How do you account for the failure of Reconstruction (1865-1877) to bring social and economic equality of opportunity to the former slaves?


 * Essay 3** -- "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races." How can this statement of Abraham Lincoln be reconciled with his 1862 Emancipation Proclamation?


 * Essay 4** -- Explain why and how the role of the federal government changed as a result of the Civil War with respect to each of the following during the period 1861 to 1877: race relations, economic development, westward expansion. [Unit 6]


 * Essay 5** -- "Lincoln was one of the most democratic and also one of the most autocratic presidents." Assess the validity of this statement.


 * Essay 6** -- Americans have sometimes resorted to using extralegal means to promote change. Assess the extent to which such measures were effective by analyzing each of the following: the Boston Tea Party, John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. [Units 2 and 4]


 * Essay 7** -- Evaluate the impact of the Civil War on political and economic developments in each of the following regions: the North, the South, the West. Focus your answer on the period between 1865 and 1900. [Unit 6]


 * Essay 8** -- Analyze the economic consequences of the Civil War with respect to each of the following in the United States between 1865 and 1900: agriculture, labor, industrialization, transportation. [Unit 6]


 * Essay 9** -- Assess the moral arguments and political actions of those opposed to the spread of slavery in the context of each of the following: the Missouri Compromise, the Mexican War, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act.


 * Essay 10** -- Discuss the economic, political, and social reforms introduced in the South between 1864 and 1877. To what extent did these reforms survive the Compromise of 1877? [Units 6 and 7]


 * Essay 11** -- Analyze the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories contributed to the coming of the Civil War. Confine your answer to the period 1845 to 1861.


 * Essay 12** -- Compare and contrast the ways in which the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 resolved issues associated with the expansion of slavery in the West.


 * Essay 13** -- Analyze the effectiveness of political compromise in reducing sectional tensions in the period 1820 to 1861. [Units 3 and 4]


 * Essay 14** -- To what extent did the debates about the Mexican War and its aftermath reflect the sectional interests of New Englanders, westerners, and southerners in the period from 1845 to 1855? [Unit 4]


 * Essay 15** -- Analyze the social, political, and economic forces of the 1840s and early 1850s that led to the emergence of the Republican Party. [Unit 4]