Questions and Topics

531

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

$$ 334-345. THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL STRIFE

a. Do you consider that Lincoln or Washington best represents American life?

b. Upon what premises did Lincoln base his conclusion that "the Union is much older than the Constitution"?

c. Give as many facts as possible to support the statement, "in the end they collapsed as no other conquered people have done in historical times."

d. What is meant by the statement, "there are few things, however, so unreliable as statistics"?

e. Why did the Confederates have “superior marching qualities"? f. Compare the uprising of the Northern and the Southern people. In which section was there greater unanimity?

g. Draw an imaginary picture of what might have happened had the "border states " seceded.

h. Compare the war policies of the North and the South. Was it possible for the South to have pursued a different policy?

i. The national banking system: why was it established? Describe it. What changes might now be made to adapt it to present conditions?

j. Is it true that the blockade "was the chief factor" in the defeat of the South? Give your reasons.

§§ 346, 347, 349. THE THEATER OF WAR

a. Draw three maps showing (1) the theater of war as a whole, (2) the East, (3) the West (Dodge's Bird's-Eye View). Describe by recitation lines of communication and lines of defense.

b. Draw two maps, one representing the theater of war in Virginia during the Revolution, the other, during the Civil War. Enter fully upon each name and date of battles; what points of similarity and dissimilarity strike you?

$$ 350, 370. RELATIONS WITH GREAT BRITAIN

a. Do you consider the bitterness of feeling towards Great Britain justifiable? Give your reasons. Has Great Britain done anything since 1865 to lessen this feeling?

b. Why were "free workingmen all the world over" interested in the struggle between the North and the South?

c. Who formulates the rules of International Law? What is meant by "according belligerent rights"? How does it differ from "recogni

tion of independence"? Why were both Great Britain and France opposed to nationalism in the United States?

d. What argument in favor of democracy do you find in § 350?

$$ 359, 360. SLAVE EMANCIPATION

a. (1) Trace in detail Lincoln's policy as to slavery. (2) Describe carefully the position of the Republican party as to slavery. (3) Was the war begun to free the slaves? (4) Would you have advocated war in 1861 to secure immediate emancipation? (The first three of these questions may be used as Topics for Individual Investigation.)

b. Discuss the constitutionality of the Emancipation Proclamation. Is there any limit to the President's war powers? In how far do the proclamations of a President have legal force?

§§ 363, 371. NORTHERN OPPOSITION

a. Compare the mode of recruiting during the Revolutionary War and during the Civil War.

b. Why was Andrew Johnson nominated for Vice-President?

c. Compare the votes cast in 1856, in 1860, and in 1864. What changes of sentiment can you discern?

d. Does the Constitution authorize Congress to draft soldiers?

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Subjects for special study in secondary authorities: (1) assign to each student a campaign or a battle to be studied in Dodge's Bird'sEye View and in Battles and Leaders, or in other convenient books; the report should include a map or plan of the campaign or battle; (2) the part played by the "Old Northwest" in the war; (3) the part played by the "border states," or by any one of them; (4) development during the Civil War of the railroad system, or the action of the homestead law, or the exploitation of the mineral resources, or the progress of mechanical invention, or industrial expansion; (5) the attitude towards the United States of the leading nations of Europe; (6) the questions of international law which grew out of the Civil War.

CHAPTER XIV

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1865-1900

Books for Consultation

General Readings. — Johnston's American Politics, 207-279; Wilson's Division and Reunion, 254-299.

Special Accounts. Lalor's Cyclopædia articles by Johnston; Blaine's Twenty Years; Landon's Constitutional History; Sterne's Constitutional History; Andrews's Last Quarter Century. Lives of the leading statesmen, Guide, § 25. On the currency see Walker's Political Economy and Laughlin's Political Economy.

Sources. McPherson's Handbooks; Appleton's Annual Cyclopadia; Mulhall's Dictionary of Statistics; Tenth Census; Shaler's United States. Writings of leading statesmen, Guide, §§ 32, 33. Bibliography. — Gordy and Twitchell, Pathfinder in American

History.

Illustrative Material. — Whittier's Democracy; Tourgée's A Fool's Errand and Bricks without Straw; Hale's Mr. Merriam's Scholars.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1865-1897

375. Return to Peace Conditions. The war was over: its close brought with it new conditions and new problems whose solution has been most difficult. The enormous military and naval forces were to be disbanded; wounded and disabled Union soldiers and sailors with their families were to be cared for; an enormous debt was to be paid off; emancipation was to be completed, and the negroes protected in their new freedom; and vexatious political questions were to be settled. All these matters were pressing, but on many of them it was nearly impossible to reach agreement. Above all, it was necessary for the government and the people to abandon extravagant habits which had grown