Posted: September 14th, 2017

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SLAVERY, AND THE CIVIL WAR

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SLAVERY, AND THE CIVIL WAR

1. First, to PREPARE for the “thinking” session on the paper in Week 9, read the following:

a. The main introduction (pp. 1-9) of Michael P. Johnson, ed., Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War (Bedford Books), 2d edition. Copies are on sale at the campus Bookstore, and one will be on reserve at the University Library (2d floor). Students must use the 2d edition of the book.

b. “Sections on Reading and Writing under “Short Guides for Student Success” posted under the SYLLABUS section on Blackboard.

c. “Grading Rubric for Lincoln Essay,” also posted under SYLLABUS section on Blackboard.

2. In Thinking Session # 9, the student teams will do run-throughs of the assignment.

3. To write the paper itself, CHOOSE one of the questions at the bottom of these instructions, based on separate chapters in the assigned book.

4. READ all the required sources for the chapter (see questions at the bottom) to be certain you have the best evidence for how you will answer the question: and look ESPECIALLY for evidence in the PRIMARY sources, written during Lincoln’s life.

5. PLAN your paper by selecting the mainly PRIMARY sources that best support your answer. Don’t feel compelled to cover parts of the sources that are not related to answering the question, but be sure to have examples from different primary sources in the chapter.

6. You may use information from the book’s introduction or the in-chapter introductions (appearing in larger print before the sources); but, again, be sure that MOST of the paper is based on the PRIMARY sources.

7. Always begin your writing by making an OUTLINE, with your main point, topics – 3 to 5 topics is generally a good number — and evidence.

8. Write a FIRST DRAFT.

9. ALWAYS REVISE your first draft into a FINAL VERSION, by paying special attention to what you have written in the conclusion — because that’s usually where you’ve figured out the best main point for your essay in the first draft – and by clarifying your topic sentences throughout the essay.

10. Be sure to CITE all quoted passages and important information with page numbers from the book in parentheses at the end of the relevant sentence or quotation. If you are referring to the introduction to the book itself or of the sections of the book, put the abbreviation “intro” in front of the page reference: Ex. = (Intro 25). You will lose substantial credit if you don’t include page referencing in
your paper.

11. Even though everyone will be using the same book and ONLY that book, end the paper with a SOURCE CITED page (standard practice in college work), listing the Lincoln book by author, title, and publication information for the book (edition, place of publication, publisher, and year published), as well as the number and title of the chapter used in the paper.

12. The final version should be approximately 900 words (3 pages) long, double-spaced in 12-point type (NOT
including the Source Cited page).

13. The last step before submitting the paper = PROOFREAD your final version for errors.

14. Then submit the final version at the TURNITIN button at
the bottom of COURSE MATERIALS on Blackboard. Do
not submit drafts to TURNITIN: submit only the final
version since you have just one chance to submit the
paper.

Note that TURNITIN picks up on any copied parts of the paper, from other papers that have been submitted through TURNITIN or from the Internet. So do your OWN work and base it ONLY on the assigned reading.

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CHOICE OF QUESTIONS

Answer ONE of the 5 following questions, based on the pages listed after the question. The reference to titles of documents is intended to guide students in their choice of a chapter; there are more than these documents included in the readings. But you do NOT need to read anything more than the assigned pages, and MUST NOT use outside sources.

1. If his campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1858 and for the Presidency in 1860 are considered together, how important was opposition to racial slavery in Lincoln’s political perspective at this time? or did other subjects play equal or greater roles in his debates and speeches?
Use sources from Chapter 2, “Leading the Republican Party”: p. 30 to bottom of p. 42 (including the “House Divided” Speech) + middle of p. 47 to bottom of p. 53 + last two paragraphs on p. 56 [21 pages]

2. From these documents, would you say that Lincoln was prepared to fight the Civil War when the southern states seceded to create the Confederacy, or did he seem hesitant and indecisive?
Use sources together from Chapter 3, “From Secession to War”: p. 58 to middle of p. 59 + p. 62 to middle of p. 70 (including First Inaugural Address) + bottom of p. 85 to end of p. 93 (Annual Address)
[24 pages]

3. From these documents, what appears to have been Lincoln’s main goal in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation: ending slavery, or ending the Civil War?
Use sources from Chapter 5, “Toward Emancipation”: p. 113 to middle of p. 129 + p. 131 to top of p. 134 (Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation) + second paragraph of p. 140 to end of p.142 (final Emancipation Proclamation) [24 pages]

4. In your opinion, was there a connection between the recruitment of African Americans to fight in the Union (northern) Army and the overall message of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, or do these two developments appear to have been completely separate?
Use sources from Chapter 6, “A War for Freedom and Union”: pp. 143-161 (whole chapter, including Gettysburg Address) [19 pages]

5. From these documents, what would you say was Lincoln’s main goal in reconstructing the Union once the Civil War was over (in the future): changing the country, or simply reuniting it?
Use sources from Chapter 8, “’To Finish the Work We Are In’”: pp. 188-210 (whole chapter, including the Second Inaugural Address)
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