U.S History 1800-1860

 A Nation on the Move: Westward Expansion, 1800–1860 

 Cotton is King: The Antebellum South, 1800–1860 

 Antebellum Idealism and Reform Impulses, 1820–1860 

 Instructions

For this assignment, read the attached materials and answer ONE of the provided questions. 300-400 words excluding references and a minimum of 3 references.

1.  What are the economic and political issues raised by having an imbalance between free and slave states? Why did the balance of free and slave states matter?

2. Consider the arguments over the expansion of slavery made by both northerners and southerners in the aftermath of the U.S. victory over Mexico. Who had the more compelling case? Or did each side make equally significant arguments?

3.  What strategies did slaves employ to resist, revolt, and sustain their own independent communities and cultures? How did slaves use white southerners’ own philosophies—paternalism and Christianity, for example—to their advantage in these efforts?

4.  In what ways did the Second Great Awakening and transcendentalism reflect and react to the changes in antebellum American thought and culture?

 300-450 words excluding references, APA format, and a minimum of 3 references. See the attached reading materials.