History of the Americas

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

Understanding Popular Sovereignty: The People’s Ultimate Authority in Democratic Governance.

Popular Sovereignty What term refers to the notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery? Seemingly a compromise, it was...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

Understanding the Controversial Fugitive Slave Law: Its Far-Reaching Provisions and Impact on the Nation

Fugitive Slave Law Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, it set high penalties for anyone who aided escaped slaves and compelled all law enforcement officers...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A Powerful Tale of Slavery and Its Impact on American History

Uncle Tom’s Cabin What was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s widely read novel that dramatized the horrors of slavery? It heightened Northern support for abolitions and escalated the sectional...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

Popular Sovereignty and its Role in the Issue of Slavery in Mid-19th Century United States

vote on slavery in the territories (popular sovereignty) In defending the Kansas-Nebraska Act, what did Stephen A. Douglas press for the American people to be able to...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

Understanding Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws in the United States

black codes and Jim Crow laws What laws during Reconstruction might Frederick Douglas view as a “sham” or disgrace? Black codes were laws that were implemented by...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

The New York Draft Riots: Understanding the Origins, Causes, and Lasting Impact

New York Draft Riots Uprisings during the Civil War (1863), mostly of working-class Irish-Americans, in protest of the draft. Rioters were particularly incensed by the ability of...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

The Significance and Impact of the Emancipation Proclamation During the Civil War

Emancipation Proclamation 1863. Declared all slaves in rebelling states to be free but did not affect slavery in non-rebelling Border States. The Proclamation closed the door on...

Melissa Cooper
June 21, 2023
History of the Americas

Breaking Confederate Morale: The Devastating Military Campaign of Sherman’s March to the Sea

Sherman’s March to the Sea 1864-1865. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s destructive march through Georgia. An early instance of “total war”, purposely targeting infrastructure and civilian property...