Discuss in detail the constitutional disagreement between North and South going into the Civil War. Note, both sides argued that the union was either a compact of sovereign states or an indivisible nation. Who do your think had the better argument and why?
In the 1860s and 1870s while the Civil War and Reconstruction were still going on Americans were trying to settle the west. Discuss the efforts made to settle out on the Great Plains, and the rise of key economic developments such as the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and the rise of the mining industry and cattle kingdoms. How successful were these efforts in settling the west and how long did it take to do so?
In the years after the Civil War southerners tried to put their lives back together. An example of this was the New South movement. What was this idea of the “New South”? Who were its leaders and what did it hope to accomplish? How successful was the New South movement? 4. What was American culture like in the period during and after the Civil War? How did life in the East differ from that of those who lived out in the West? Why did the West hold such fascination for Easterners and in what ways did Americans demonstrate their curiosity about the areas of the country being settled in places like western Kansas, west Texas, Montana, etc.
