Civil War
Question 1) We’ve spent the past few weeks talking about the buildup to the Civil War, so as a mini-capstone, I want to ask the big question: what caused the Civil War? In your analysis, be sure to utilize the “Declaration of the Immediate Causes” document, which was drafted by South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union, as a sort of “Declaration of Independence,” explaining why the delegates decided to secede. The other states in the Lower South drafted very similar documents when they seceded, as well.
Question 2) Why does Coates argue that the Confederate flag should no longer be flown? What evidence does he gather to support this conclusion? What does his analysis reveal about how rhetoric about the flag has shifted over the past 150 years?
Sources:
American Yawp Chapter 14
https://www.americanyawp.com/text/wp-content/uploads/yawp_v1_open_pdf.pdf
Declaration of the Immediate Cau ses Which In duce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union
The Constitution of the Confederate States
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “What This Cruel War Was Over,” The Atlantic (June 22, 2015)
2 Paragraphs for each question, 50-75 words. Cite the sources