1. DBQ- Slavery and the Civil War, 1846-1860
Unpack the prompt- Some historians argue that slavery was the primary cause of the American Civil War. Utilizing the documents and your knowledge of the period , explain to what extent you believe this statement is valid.
DO What Evaluate Slavery was the cause of the How true is this Civil War statement

2. Read and summarize docs, copy terms and define later
Doc A (ID Person ,what body is he speaking to, yr- anything happen that year?)
Summary- What issue does John Calhoun state needs to be solved, who is responsible for coming up with a solution, what will happen if a solution is not found?
OI-1) Compromise of (yr?), 2) Dred Scott Decision, 3) Caning of Charles Sumner
Doc B (ID- Who? Why is he important/ belief?
Explain how the issue of slavery has changed for him? What law changed that?
OI-1) Fugitive slave Law,2) Kansas-Nebraska Act, #3 Republican Party
Doc C- (ID- William Walker- American/Southerner who took over Nicaragua and made himself President from 1856/57, yr? Importance?
Explain Walker’s interest in Nicaragua (Would this appease both the N and S? How?
Doc D (ID- Crittenden Compromise- attempt to find a final solution to the issue of slavery, did not pass, yr?)
Explain what has happened to the 36*30’ line? How might that be a solution?
OI-1) Crittenden Compromise, 2) Missouri Compromise/ 36*30’ 3) Popular Sovereignty,

3. OI (Outside Information) OI-1) Compromise of 1850
Doc A
ID- southerner but nationalist, speaking to the Senate, 1850 (year of the Compromise of 1850/CA enters union as a state)John C. Calhoun
Summary- Calhoun warns that the issue of slavery will divide the country unless the Government comes up with a workable solution.
OI (Outside Information)
OI-1) Compromise of 1850
2) Dred Scott Decision,
3) Caning of Charles Sumner

4. Doc. B
ID-Ralph Waldo Emerson (founder of Transcendentalism, believes that all people are special, anti-slavery, supporter of John Brown)
Summary
Slavery has never been an important issue in his life but those that support slavery have become dangerous by pushing the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, forcing Northerners to become slave catchers for the South. OI
1) Fugitive slave Law
2) Kansas-Nebraska Act
3) Republican Party

5. Doc. C
ID- William Walker- American/Southerner who took over Nicaragua and made himself President from 1856/57, institutes slavery in Nic., killed in Hondorus in 1860, Civil War begins in 1860
Summary Walker wants America to take over Nicaragua, legalize slavery to grow crops with the possibility that Nicaragua could become a slave state.
Think- Would many Americans support Walker’s plan?
Yes!!! Walker’s agenda is US could annex Nicaragua and…
Create a new into a slave state (possibly with him as the Governor) creating a balance of a 16 free and 16 slave states after the admittance of CA as an extra free state.
most Americans would probably support annexing Nicaragua because it’s not expanding slavery into an area Americans want to move to (the west) and Americans believe in expansion/Manifest Destiny)

6. Doc. D ID- Crittenden Compromise, 1860 (yr. CW begins) Summary-
The 36*30’ keeps slavery in the South by expanding the demarcation line west to the CA. eastern border expanding slavery into the New Mexico Territory and Unorganized Territory in the but keeping slavery out of Kansas and Nebraska Territory/ North. OI
1) Crittenden Compromise- proposed extending the Missouri Compromise line to the west, with slavery prohibited north of the 36° 30′ parallel and guaranteed south of it. The compromise included a clause that it could not be repealed or amended.
2) Missouri Compromise/ 36*30’
3) Popular Sovereignty-

7. Creating a thesis (Look at the Question) Answer the thesis in 1-2 sentences using documents A and B to give you clues to create 2 key ideas that you will write about and prove in your essay.
The 2 key ideas from the documents to answer the question are…
1) Solutions
A) Who was responsible for coming up with a solution to the slavery issue
B) How effective were the solutions that were created
2) Expansion of slavery
A) Why did the South want and need to expand slavery
B) Why was the North so against the expansion of slavery
Create a 2 sentence thesis based on the key ideas that answers the questions (making sure to say that slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War)

8. Mr. Hromadka’s Thesis
Slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War because the political parties in the US Government could not formulate an effective solution that lasted or solved the division between the North and South. The expansion of Slavery also contributed to the Civil War because the South in order to protect slavery felt it had to create more slave states to ensure political slave power, where as the North was adamantly opposed to expanding slavery in effort to keep slavery and blacks only where it already existed.

9. Argument #1- Solutions (create your own argument tied to how the solutions helped cause the Civil War)
Doc A OI #1 OI #2 OI #3 Doc D
Explanation Explanation Explanation Explanation explanation
Make sure each explanation details how each solution did not settle the slavery issue and might have actually made the tensions worse

10. Argument #2- Expansion of Slavery was a cause of the war( b/c…)
OI #4 Fugitive Slave Law Doc B OI #5 Doc. C OI #6
Explanation Explanation Explanation Explanation explanation
To OI # to Doc. B to OI # to Doc. C OI #6
Make sure to explain how each piece of evidence expanding slavery upset the North or was necessary to achieving the South’s goal of increasing political power