Hello everyone. Welcome to the Online Debate!!!! Please read the introduction and instructions before proceeding to the debate.
The North/South online debate will consist of a series of five questions that cover a variety of topics from the 1850s thru the late 1870s. Before you begin the debate, please read the primary documents that I have listed below, go over the PowerPoint Presentations starting from April 11 and refer to your online textbook. You may also use online sources if you like, but use those sparingly. IF YOU DO USE AN ONLINE SOURCE, YOU MUST REFERENCE THAT SOURCE IN YOUR ANSWER (WEBSITE ADDRESS WILL WORK FOR ME). FAILURE TO CITE AN ONLINE SOURCE WILL RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC 2 POINT DEDUCTION FOR EACH DEBATE QUESTION. Any questions about grades for the debate or the content of the debate can be answered by going over the following information and the syllabus. Although each of you may email me at any time, any student questions relating to the following topics about the debate: grades, content, due dates, etc., will be referred back to this discussion post. Let’s get started.
How do I participate in the debate? The online debate will consist of a series of 5 questions that I will ask between now and May 7. Every question requires a response by each student of at least 2-3 well thought out paragraphs. After each student submits his/her original response, each student will then be required to respond to at least 1 other student’s original response.
How will the debate be graded? Each question will be worth a maximum of 4 points. In order to receive the full 4 points for each question, each student must respond to the original question in at least 2-3 well thought out paragraphs and also reply to at least 1 person’s original response. The students original response to the question must include information found in the following: your state summaries, a reference or quote (if you quote you must add “quotes” to direct quotations) from at least one of the primary source documents listed below, and if need be a reference to the PowerPoint presentations that I have uploaded. Use online sources sparingly and cite these when you use them.
The deadline to answer the first question will be 1159pm on April 25. I will let the class know the deadline to answer the rest of the questions.
An important Note on grading: If a student puts up only an original post but no reply to another students original response, the maximum amount of points that a student can receive per question will be 2 points. If a student posts a small original post (less than 2-3 well thought out paragraphs) and casually replies to another students post, the maximum amount of points possible for the student will be 3 points. In order to receive the maximum 4 points for each question, each student must first answer the question in 2-3 well thought paragraphs. The student must then respond to at least 1 students original answer in a couple of sentences (one paragraph will be better). Any subsequent online debate by students will be up to each student. If a student receives a maximum point total for all 5 questions, the grand point total a student can receive will be 20 points for the online debate and 5 points for the state summary (uploaded to blackboard earlier).
LET’S GET STARTED!!!
Debate Question#1: When answering this question, it is important that you must first tell your classmates which state you are representing. If you do not let people know which state you are representing, students are allowed to ask which state you represent. When thinking about an answer to this question, please refer at least to the PowerPoint Presentations that I have uploaded (April 11 and April 18,25) and the James K Polk Inaugural Address Primary Document (see below list).
Thinking about Manifest Destiny, the Compromise of 1850, and the new lands acquired by the US during the Polk administration, when it comes to the issue of slavery, should the United States adopt a “Free-Soil Ideology” as adopted by the New Republican Party in 1854 or should the United States adopt an ideology based on the “Pro-Slavery” Argument of the Southern Democrat Party?
Primary Documents needed for the debate. Please refer to these when preparing your debate answers.
The Opinions of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case (http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1826-1850/dred-scott-case/)
The Constitution of the Confederate States of America — 1861 (http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1851-1875/the-constitution-of-the-confederate-states-of-america-1861.php)
James K Polk’s Inagural Address, March 4, 1845, (Annexation of Texas and Manifest Destiny) — (http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/polk.shtml)
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (1864) — (http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/emanc.shtml)
President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 — (http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/gettysburg.shtml)
Frederick Douglass, How he escaped from slavery, 1855 — (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=507)
Harriett Tubman, The Black Moses, 1863 — (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=508)
