Grade 8 Fall — The Long Road to the Civil War, the War Itself from Multiple Perspectives, Reconstruction as Betrayed Promise, and the Industrial-Gilded Age (United States 1850-1900)
History · CIV
G8
hist.g8.f.civ.election_1860_secession_cornerstone_speech
Analyze the election of 1860, South Carolina secession December 20 1860, and the formation of the Confederate States of America with Stephens 1861 Cornerstone Speech as primary-source evidence of slavery as cause
Use 1860 election map + 11 secession declarations + Stephens Cornerstone Speech March 21 1861 + Confederate Constitution + Davis Inaugural to demonstrate slavery as primary cause; apply MG-7 Q9 LOST-CAUSE-DETECTION.
Mastery threshold
90%
Min instances
12
Typical minutes
50
Spaced intervals (days)
1, 3, 7, 14, 30, 60
Common misconceptions
- Believing Lincoln ran on abolishing slavery — he ran on prohibiting slavery's expansion into new western territories, not abolishing it where it existed
- Treating Lincoln's election as 'cause' of secession — the secession declarations cite Republican Party's refusal to allow slavery's expansion + opposition to Fugitive Slave Act enforcement + perceived threat to slavery (NOT Lincoln's personal positions)