WRITING ASSIGNMENT # 3B: Defending Slavery
Before the emergence of cotton as a primary crop in the south, the invention of the cotton gin, and territorial expansion southward and westward, slavery appeared to be on the decline. These factors, coupled with a rising demand for cotton by the British textile industry, revived the South’s agricultural economy.
Although cotton could be grown with or without slavery, the expansion of cotton cultivation and slavery occurred together. When slavery was challenged on moral grounds, southerners chose to defend their “peculiar institution,” as in the words of John C. Calhoun “a positive good.”
INSTRUCTIONS:
This writing assignment will require you to analyze and discuss primary and secondary sources that relate to the institution of slavery in the United States.
• Review the relevant content Chapter 13 of the textbook.
• Read this excerpt from a statement made in 1837 by John Calhoun in which he outlines his views on slavery. Note his comparison of a lot of slaves with that of European (and northern) workers. http://highered.mheducation.com/olc/dl/40804/chap13elem1.htm
• Read the linked essay: AMERICA IN THE WORLD: The Abolition of Slavery, http://highered.mheducation.com/novella/BbUpdateableLinkReader.jsp?contentid=1676441&isbn=0073513237&passcode=dklfjsdlkf2394ldkjf92384dslk
• Read the linked article on BBC-British Anti-slavery http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/antislavery_01.shtml
PREPARE AND SUBMIT:
Write a well-organized essay, a minimum of 700 words (but not limited to), including supporting details from the documents/textbook/other sources, in which you analyze and discuss the material that has been assigned by addressing the following question:
Most southerners defended slavery, even though they were not part of the “Plantation Aristocracy.” According to the readings that you have completed, discuss why they supported slavery, and your response to the claims made by its supporters, and explain why it was easier to end the slave trade than to end slavery itself.
Reminders
• Paragraphs in an essay are not numbered. Any questions that are associated with an assigned reading are there to serve as a guide for your discussion.
• Your discussion should incorporate all of the information from the documents and or textbook, and outside sources as one essay.
• Students are required to research and incorporate into their discussions additional sources that relate to the content. Recommendations can be found in at the end of the textbook chapter in Additional Reading.
• All statements must be supported and all sources must be identified and cited, and included in your reference list. This also applies to the textbook. Failure to do so constitutes Plagiarism, and the college has strict policies and penalties for failure to comply. Under the Resources, you will find links to sites that review how to format a paper or essay. I recommend that students use APA or Chicago Style to format their essay. Students should ask their instructor which format style they prefer you to use.
• Proofread your work. Make sure that you have looked for all of the spelling and grammatical errors and corrected them, and that you have organized your work into coherent paragraphs.
• Prepare the assignment as a Word Document, double-spaced and using a standard font of 12 points.
• Submit via the Dropbox as an ATTACHMENT. Any work that is submitted directly into the box will be graded as a 0.
Point Value: 100
Grading Criteria:
• Analysis and discussion (60%)
• Support for discussion (30%)
• Organization (10%)
Reminder: All written work must comply with standard English rules, such as proper capitalization, grammar, and spelling. The assignment must be submitted by the deadline listed in the calendar.
