Southern Ignorance

Apostles of Disunion, written by Charles B. Dew, is a book that focuses on the topics of Slavery, States’ rights, and Secession.

Throughout the course of American History, one of the most inner conflicts held within this nation has been the conflict between sectionalism and slavery. Divided by the North and the South, the conflicts born by these two opposing sections were a result over the debate on slavery. Since the North was primarily made up of business and industry, the people had no need for the institution known as slavery. However, the South was simply an area in which the practice of slavery was used to make a profit for its agriculture based society. Slavery became a topic for debate, but not because it was just morally wrong for it was a conflict of personal gain. The creation of this sectionalism was born from the issues and interests of slavery, profit,

Reconstruction and the Myth of the Lost Cause has been misinterpreted and in some cases, not even taught by most teachers. Reconstruction failures have affected “race relations” throughout the United States. Eric Foner said “ Today’s scholars believe that if the era was “tragic,” it was not because Reconstruction was attempted but because it failed.” Students throughout the United States need to be educated on the importance of Reconstruction and The Myth of the Lost Cause. Also, the Confederate monuments can relate back to the failure of Reconstruction and the Myth of the Lost Cause.

Sectionalism was a leading contributor to America’s inability to reach compromise. The North and South possessed passionate political views that differed immensely. Both the Northern and Southern states felt unheard and unconsidered. The reannexation of Texas proved to be pivotal in how close America came to going to fill out war then. Northerners were willing to take Texas as she was, sought not to change the character of her institutions and realized that slavery existed in Texas. It gave character to the country [Doc. B]. Instead of uniting as a nation to reach middle ground on issues of state constitutional rights to govern themselves, which states would be free states and which would be slave states, the regions began to look out for

How much of American history do you know? Black history is a part of America’s history, but why is it not deeply taught in schools? In schools we often talk about white American leaders or wars America has won, but not much history of other cultures in America. We may hear a little information about certain minority leaders who fought for a change, but not much facts. If today’s youth aren’t being taught about the thing’s their ancestors have gone through and all the things that has happened and why, many will grow up ignorant. Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, these are only a few people mentioned in class, but what about Claudette Colvin who nine months before Rosa Parks, decided not to get off the bus and was taken to jail, or Emmett Till who was 14 and brutally beaten and killed for whistling at a white woman. These are only a few who are not mentioned in our history books or classrooms.

This essay will examine why Dr. Eric calls Reconstruction “America’s unfinished revolution.” At the end of the Civil War, America faced difficult choices regarding the restoration of the defeated South and the future of the freed people. President Lincoln committed ending slavery and he was persuading southerners (mostly white plantation owners) to abandon Confederacy. However, most white southerners were believed that blacks would never be superior as white folks. This result in most white’s southerners expected to keep African Americans in a subordinate role and initially used black codes and violence towards that end. Such as the Ku Klux

Two fundamental questions normally surround the history of any war: whether the war was inevitable and if it was necessary. These same questions emerge any time during debates regarding the American Civil war. The most cited cause of the Civil war is the secession of certain southern states that formed the Confederate States of America in January 1861. Thomas Bonner writes "Civil War Historians and the "Needless War" Doctrine" arguing that Southern Carolina seceded in 1860, followed by six other states by January the following year. A deep analysis of the events leading to the war indicates that the Union and the Confederates had profound ideological, economic, political, and social differences. However, while these causes could not have been resolved to avoid the war, history has proved that the American Civil War was a necessary conflict that shaped the future of America in a way only hitherto imagined.

In the news today, a continual debate can be found about the significance of Confederate monuments and if they should remain or be removed. Confederate monuments that have been erected throughout the U.S. should be kept because of the preservation of America’s history. For instance, in the article, The Unbearable Lightness of Confederate-Statue Removal, the author lists how slaveholder monuments aren’t the only statues being vandalized, but the Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore are other symbols of U.S. history that some believe need to “blow up” (Murdock). Every historical symbol can have both people who appreciate it and who oppose it. That doesn’t mean that we should tear down all symbols, but symbols in appropriate context lead to better

Huxley has a theory of entertainment as control and we can see it throughout his book Brave New World. The fact that his vision was made years ago, makes this vision even more interesting, because knowing that entertainment has a big impact into our society for the book reveals similar forms of entertainment to control it’s people. The ways that the book was created has brought to conclusion that our society is controlled by entertainment. Our society has become a trivial culture preoccupied with entertainment.

“I never hear one word about how Asian immigrants were among the first to turn California’s desert into fields of plenty.[...] I never learned that Asian immigrants were the only immigrants that were denied U.S. citizenship even though they served honorably in World War I.” (Ji-Yeon, Paragraph 4) This example, while it connects specifically to the author was not as effective in persuading the audience due to Asian Americans being a very small, lesser studied minority in America, but the author really hits the mark when she speaks of how underrepresented black Americans are in history textbooks. “I never learned that black people rose up in arms against slavery.” She also speaks of Frederick Douglass: a famed abolitionist and statesman; W.E.B. Du Bois: an author. black scholar, and civil rights activist; and Nat Turner: who led an uprising against white plantation owners in Virginia just prior to the Civil War. These men are leading historical figures of black independence, and since she states she never learned about them she is really getting through to an American audience about the discrimination in the perspective students are taught about in history

The United States has had many conflicts in the course of its history. Particularly speaking, these conflicts typically arise due to differences between either side. The North and South had many differences that led to a large conflict. The North, made of abolitionists, relied on industries and mass-production in an economy. Rather than having a mainly paid workforce like the north, the South’s agricultural economy boomed, due to slaves, and cash crops, such as cotton. Over time, tensions grew over many debatable topics, honing in on slavery. Slavery truly separated the North and South, and bumps along the road, such as politics and control of military property, caused the South to secede. After forming an aggressive territorial Confederacy,

The Civil War was one of America’s most trying and troubling times. Following the Civil War was Reconstruction, which posed an important question that would affect the country forever, “What do we do with the South?” During Reconstruction, the Government was faced with a plethora of difficult questions to answer and a series of difficult situations, but the topic at hand was the same reason the Civil War started in the first place: African Americans. The statement “After the Civil War, the only way to truly enfranchise former slaves was by effectively disenfranchising their former masters” is true because white Southerners would constantly and consistently attempt to undermine African Americans.

Distinguished members of Congress, we the United States of America, have fought two years of this war, costly in both currency and lives, against a group of rebels, who against the Constitution seceded and formed the so-called “Confederate States of America,” but for what purpose are we fighting? We fight to end the brutal institution of slavery, to uphold our constitution and moreover to uphold this glorious union of all American states. How, you may ask, do we create a nation composed of persons of many different beliefs? We must firstly handle the issue of those engaged in the creation and protection of those treasonous states, next is the issue of use of the land of the rebel states, and finally we shall discuss the fractious issue of

With the Civil War in full swing, the fate of a nation hung in the balance. In the North, Union forces were not being flooded by African Americans ready to fight. In the South, Confederates and plantation owners were fueling their industries on African American slave labor. Nevertheless, African Americans wanted to show their bravery, patriotism, and love for their country. Alfred M. Green then gave an inspiring speech calling all African Americans to unite and campaign against the injustices their forefathers underwent. Utilizing ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos, Green created a well rounded and effective argument for inspiring African Americans to serve in the Union ranks.

As Americans, we view the Constitution as a stepping stone to making the great country we live in today. Yet, we the people of the United States failed to realize another component in order to form a perfect union. Which is to establish and promote equal opportunities for a quality education for all. However, we live in a society where social locators such as class, gender, and race are huge factors in the determination of one’s educational future. Our social location determines our access to power, privilege, or our lack of power and privilege. It gives us status and blocks us from having status. Statistically, there is thirty-seven percent of Americans who go to College while sixty-four percent do not. I am an African American eighteen-year-old