1.) The tension between the north and south played a defining role in shaping early American society. For this question, discuss how the north and south diverged from from one another from the 1790s to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. Discuss three events happened that caused this tension? Who were the major figures in both the north and south, and what specifically did they argue? I recommend that you discuss two of the following: the 1) political, 2) social, and 3) philosophical differences that emerged between the north and south, and explain why these societies ultimately proved so incompatible.
Next, answer Part II with a 750 word. Use A SHORT, OFFHAND KILLING AFFAIR as your prime source of evidence and YOU MUST CITE SPECIFIC PASSAGES WITH PAGE NUMBERS FROM THIS BOOK to earn a passing grade on this question. ONLY USE COURSE MATERIALS.
1.) In A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair, author Paul Foos contends that the American military army and volunteer forces that invaded Mexico represent an accurate cross section of American society and American views on race and ethnicity during the 1840s. Utilizing Foos, explain the state of race relations and racial attitudes in America during the U.S. Mexican War; what specific actions did the U.S. military forces take in Mexico that prove many among the American forces were racist? Provide specific examples from the book that might be indicative of how Americans viewed the Mexican people, as well as other peoples they perceived as racially different.
Next, utilize your course book to detail a few instances of how the racial attitudes described by Foos during the 1840s set the tone for the way Americans continued to deal with people they perceived as different (African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans) from the end of the U.S. Mexican War to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. You may also discuss, if you like, immigration’s impact on how America struggled over the issue of who should be included in American society and who should be excluded based on race and ethnicity.
