Research Group Proposal

Leigh, Nathan, Jen, and I are going to be staying up for 48 hours for our research group project. Every 5 hours we are going to tape ourselves and talk about each others status and how we are doing. We have simple tasks that we are going to do throughout the time and see if something simple becomes harder through the time.

War on Northern Aggression Questions

1. Were Southern politicians more or less likely to own slaves than other white Southerners?

Yes, they were. Only 38% of White Southerners owned a slave and only 6% of that had twenty or more slaves. Southern politicians on the other hand had a bigger percentage. 68% of State legislators and 83% of delegates to secession conventions owned slaves.

2. Were higher level politicians more likely to own slaves than other politicians?

Yes, country government officials only had 53% of owning slaves while while 83% of delegates to secession conventions owned slaves. Also only 18% of the government officals owned 20 or more slaves while 41% of the delefates to secession owned 20 or more.

3. What do these facts suggest to you about the nature of the Southern political system?

That the richer you are, the more slaves you were able to own. It showed in the table that the higher up you are, the more slaves you owned.

4. How uniform were the proportion of slaves in the population and the proportion of whites owning slave across the South?

There were always more slaves in the state then there were whites owning slaves.It was mostly a 10% in the first four states. In the other states there is no uniformity because the numbers are all over the place.

5. Was there a relationship between the number of slaves in a state's population and whether and when it seceded from the Union?

When I looked at the charts I saw that there were usually more slaves in a population then there were American citizens.

6. What material advantages did the North possess on the eve of the Civil War?

They had advantages in every category. All of the resources that they had, gave them huge advantages in the long run. The railroad advantages helped quite a bit probably, as far as ammunition, and troops. They were able to get troops a lot farther into the battle zone.

7. Do you think material advantages are decisive in the outcome of wars? Why or why not?

Well yeah. Having the power of the materials that the other side doesn't have is a huge advantage. One side being stronger and having the materials to take down the enemy faster and easier is a very good thing. Having the power to take the enemy down easier, I think would let the side with the power be able to make the decisions and determine which way the war should go. They would be able to decide how long the war went on.

8. Why did troop strength peak in 1863?

There is an insufficent amount of data to answer this question.

9. Do you think that the differences in troop strength were responsible for the war's outcome?

I believe that the number of troops for the Union definitely helped in a big way. If the numbers were more even, the outcome of the war may have been way different then and today.

10. How does the cost of the Civil War--in casualties and expense--compare to the cost of other American wars?

The costs are significantly higher. The point that sticks out to me the most is the casualties that took place in the war. The totals of death for the Union was 23 percent, and 24 percent for the Confederacy. That is half the population.

11. Why do you think that the Civil War was so lethal?

I think that it was so lethal because both sides pretty much had pure hatred for each other. All they wanted to do was kill each other. I'm surprised that they didn't wipe out the entire population.

12. What was the radical Republican program for reconstructing the Union?

They wanted the rebels properties should pay the national debt for America. Also that the states should be divided up into military states. Each district will have their own officer to make sure to enforce peace.

13. What were the goals of the radical Republican program?

The goals of the Radical Republican Program included:
They tended to view the Civil War as a crusade against the institution of slavery and supported immediate emancipation.
They advocated enlistment of black soldiers.
They led the fight for ratification of the 13th Amendment.

14. Why was the program unacceptable to President Andrew Johnson?

He didn't like it because the person that gets to be the commanding officer will have complete control over everyone. He becomes the law, and Johnson compared that to having the power of an Absolute Monarch. He said it would put every person down to the lowest low possible.

15. Why do you think the North failed to follow through with policies that would have secured the rights and economic status of the freedmen?

They probably didn't like it because the black men that not to long ago used to be slaves, were now included in higher power. They had to give a large portion of their land to them also. The North went from being the superior ones, to being equal, which I don't believe they liked.

16. What were the major political and social achievements of Reconstruction?

The first is that they made slavery illegal. They denied any former members of the Confederacy the right to be in public office. They made sure that no one could be denied votes based on race, color, or previous servitude.