Problem 1: 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?
Problem 2: 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?
Problem 3: In what ways were antebellum feminists radical? In what ways were they traditional?
Problem 4: Was it possible to save American democracy in 1860? What steps might have been taken to maintain unity? Why do you think these steps were not taken?