HISTORY

Final Exam Take Home Essay Question

 Select one of the following questions and answer using information from the textbook,
lectures, and any research you may choose to do.  The best essays will follow the
format outlined in the “Essay Writing Sheet,” and will provide an argument – good
reasons – that supports your position.  Facts referring to actual events, people, issues,
written documents, will back up the points of your argument. You are expected to
include primary documents -- that is, documents from the time period.  Each of these
questions asks you to look at a theme in the history of the United States.  You are
expected to provide an overview of the issue as it leads up to the war.  Include a
bibliography (the bibliography page does not count for total essay pages).
The source of any information from a book, handout, website, etc., must be clear. 
Wherever that information appears in the body of the essay you must give the source. 
For printed material you must include the page number; for websites the source must
be clear. At the end of the essay, in the bibliography, you must list your sources:  For
material from a website, after the information give the full web address of the  source,
for example (www.iTunes.com/Civil War/causes). (Links to an external site.)  Plagiarism
is an automatic fail of the assignment.  The essay should be 4-5 pages, 12 point font,
double spaced.  Spelling, grammar, and organization will all count in the grading of the
essay.

1. Among the most important causes of tension between the North and the
South that led up to the Civil War were economic differences. The South saw
itself at the mercy of a federal government that continually favored Northern
interests in revenue raising and investment through tariffs and loans. The
Nullification Crisis was just one example.  Federal government's investment
in Northern industries, railroads, and canals another. The necessity of slavery
for the South's wealth another.  Were economic conflicts the fundamental
cause of the break up of the Union and the Civil War?

2. From the very beginning of the United States, when the colonies achieved
independence from Great Britain and formed a constitutional government up
to the Civil War, state's rights versus the central federal government were
raised again and again. Was federal infringement of the rights of a state to
regulate, legislate, and protect the lives and best interests of its citizens
through their elected officials the chief cause of the Civil War? Think of the
Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, the Nullification crisis, the Wilmot
proviso, the Missouri Compromise, slaves as private property of owners,
slavery in the territories, the Dred Scot decision.

3. Slaves arrived shortly after the first colony was founded. The presence of
slaves seemed to be taken for granted at the start of the nation. Jefferson,
 the major writer of the Declaration of Independence, and many presidents of
the US were slave owners.  The constitution recognized the existence of
slavery.  Yet slavery became a more and more important issue as the nation
grew until it seemed to divide the nation – or did it?  What were the chief
factors in slavery becoming a moral issue rather than an economic one? The
Abolition movement never got a majority in the North yet the spread of
slavery was the most volatile issue in the run up to the war.  Was slavery the
sole cause of the Civil War or were there additional issues? 

 
 There will be no late essays!  I do not accept emailed essays.  I cannot give an
Incomplete for a missing final essay because an Incomplete can only be given if the
missing assignment is worth 10% of the grade and the final essay is worth 25%.
 Essay Writing Sheet
The purpose of an essay is to state a position and defend it with an organized argument
and facts to support it.  To be clear, make your position clear and then develop aspects
of it.  You may end up writing the first paragraph again once you know your main
points.
Paragraph 1:
State clearly what the question is and how you are going to answer it.  Give the main
points of your reasoning or argument.  Example: “The Civil War was not caused by
slavery.  A secret British plot to split the nation apart pitted the North against the
South.”  Or: “The Civil War was caused by slavery.  When the slaves got machine guns
from Indians, they tried to make their owners into slaves.”
Paragraph 2 (and others):
In the first sentence of the second paragraph state one aspect of your position.  “The
British wanted to divide the nation in order to get cheaper cotton from the South.”  In
the next sentences give specific evidence and explain how it illustrates the first
sentence.  “Northern tariffs had raised the price of cotton enough that the British
manufacturers were at a competitive disadvantage in textile sales with the sweat shops
in Mongolia.  For example, in 1836, after the Tariff of Abominations increased the price
of Southern cotton by 40%, the costs of British-made Calvin Klone jeans were $3.00
more than Mongolian Old Yak jeans (Putin, 224). If the South was freed from Northern
imposed tariffs, the British textile industry could monopolize the world.”
Paragraph 3
Deal with a different aspect of your position in this and other paragraphs following the
format of paragraph 2: first sentence state one aspect of your position, then the others
develop it and show how it applies.
“Secret British payments to Northern abolitionists like Garrison and John Brown
increased the level of violence against slavery.  Garrison received $1 million to buy
Ferret News and he made it into the major voice of anti-slavery agitation.  Sleazy
programming made it the number one network news outlet.  John Brown was given $5
million to buy attack helicopters for his raids on Kansas which he used effectively.  The
South began to call for Federal intervention but Congress turned a deaf ear because the
leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives had been bought off by the British
(Mitchell, 73). Southerners felt victimized.”
Paragraph 4, etc.
“When the South was the object of terrorist bombings by abolitionists, they had no
choice but to leave the Union and create an army for their own defense.  British agents
disguised as Northern congressmen dropped bombs on large plantations, the worst
being the destruction of the vast Colonel Cotton plantation that covered 90% of South
Carolina ......”
Last Paragraph:
Summarize and restate your position
Bibliography page: list the sources of the information you cited:
Vladimir Putin, The Secret Civil War. (University of the Old South Press, 2029)
Margariet Mitchell, Gone with the Windings. (Fairy Tale Press, 1888)
(Adapted from Ray W. Karras, “The History Paper, Part IV: No Cheating?” 
http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/anniversary/karr25