Assignments

Text: Divine, Chapter 15,  4/18/00

Special Topics:   The Republican Party and the South
                          Total War: Sherman and the South

Answer one of the following text questions:

• What was the significance of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860?
• What advantages and disadvantages did the North and the South bring with them into the Civil War?
• What was the impact of the Civil War on the role of the federal government in American life?

Read both Lincoln's address and the accompanying newspaper comment before addressing the ensuing questions.

Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 7, 1861

Newspaper Comment on Lincoln's Address

    Richmond Enquirer, March 7, 1861
    New York Tribune, March 9, 1861
    Staunton, Va., Spectator, March 12, 1861, page 2, column 3, "Lincoln's Inaugural"
 

Answer at least two of the following primary source questions:

• What was the status of the Union when Lincoln gave his first inaugural address?
• What did Lincoln propose to do about the status of the Union?
• Were the President's remarks conciliatory or confrontational?  How do you know?
• How was his speech received in the South?
• Do you think civil war was inevitable by the time Lincoln gave his speech?  Why?  Why not?

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