Weekly Syllabus

Week of Monday, December 6 through Friday, December 10

This week we will finish up our reading of Frederick Douglass, and resume our look at the turbulent 1850's. We will examine major social/political issues such as the Fugitive Slave Law, and other aspects of the political environment of the 1850's, such as popular sovereignty and the violence surrounding the admission of Kansas to the Union. We will also begin talking about abolitionist John Brown and his activities in Kansas, and Dred Scott, and the famous Supreme Court decision he was involved in.

Monday, December 6, 2004 (45 minutes)

Quiz: Quiz on the reading.

Topic: Finish up Frederick Douglass.

Homework: Read McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom Ch. 3, pp. 78-91. Also, The Americans pp. 310-312.

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 (45 minutes)

Topic: Discussion about the reading. Fugitive Slave Act. Dreams of a Southern empire.

Homework: Read McPherson Battle Cry of Freedom, Ch. 3 pp. 103-116.

Wednesday, December 8, 2004 (50 minutes)

Topic: Political parties in the 1850's. The death of the Whigs. The beginnings of the Republican Party.

Quiz: Quiz on filibusters. This will NOT be an open notes/open book quiz. DO THE READING!

Homework: Read The Americans, pp. 312-317.

Thursday, December 9, 2004 (40 minutes)

Topic: Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Homework: Read McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Ch. 5, pp. 145-153.

Friday, December 10, 2004 (45 minutes)

Topic: Popular Sovereignty, Kansas, John Brown.

Homework: Read handout--transcript of John Brown documentary.