Slavery and the American Civil War

The papers should not be long–no more than 2 pages (500 words minimum). Read the document and respond to the questions at the end. Number your responses to correspond to the questions and answer each question in a new paragraph. Each paragraph should include support drawn directly from the source. I look for more than a simple factual answer to the question. Tell me why you think your answer is correct. In other words justify your answer from the document itself or by logical reasoning about its contents and the events that brought it about. Show me that you have thought seriously about what you have read. Questions: The American Civil war was fought, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, because the Union could no longer exist “half slave and half free.” Four Million Americans in the southern states were held in bondage. Many northerners believed that slave owners wanted to extend this system, while southerners felt that northerners were out to destroy their wealth, their “peculiar institution” of black chattel slavery. Questions: 1) Why did the Dred Scott decision galvanize opposition to slavery among northerners? 2) What were Helper’s, Fitzhugh’s, Lincoln’s and Douglas’s views on black people? (Were they racists?) 3) What persuasive strategies did the different participants in the slavery debate use to make their points? 4) What were the fundamental conflicts between the various individuals in the sources?