Assignent
1. Discuss the relationship between masters and slaves in the American South. Did masters have all the power in this relationship, or did the enslaved exert some power? Points to consider include paternalism, the size of slaveholdings, slavery and the law, forms of slave resistance, and labor organization (task and gang systems).
2. For the most part, white southerners defended the "peculiar institution" whether or not they had slaves, whether they were rich or poor, and whether they lived on large plantations or small farms. Why was this the case?
3. Examine the aftermath of the Mexican War for Tejanos in the Texas borderland. What were the consequences for Mexicans, Indians, slaves, and free blacks in the newly acquired areas of not only Texas but also New Mexico and California? Think back to Thomas Jefferson's idea of an Empire of Liberty. Did the newly acquired land from the Mexican War promote Jefferson's idea, or as with the Louisiana Purchase, was it an empire of liberty for only a few?
4. Compare and contrast the leadership abilities of wartime presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. How significant was each man's leadership to the course of the war?
5. Was Reconstruction a success or a failure? Or was it something in between? In your response, consider land policy, key legislation during Presidential and Radical Reconstruction, southern politics, racial and political violence, and northern "fatigue" with Reconstruction. Be sure to make clear what you mean by success and failure.